Saudi Arabia has amassed a more than 50% stake in California EV startup and Tesla rival Lucid Motors, according to a report in The Verge.
Lucid closed a $1.3 billion investment from the Kingdom’s PIF last year.
The revelation was made as a result of a lawsuit filed by Lucid Motors’ former head of finance, Doug Coates, who believes he’s entitled to certain severance benefits based on the language of the deal he signed with the company, according to The Verge report.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The percentage of ownership by the PIF has not been disclosed. It remains unclear exactly what kind of voting rights the various shareholders of the company have. The company declined to comment to The Verge.
Lucid is expected to begin deliveries of its Lucid Air model next year to customers in the Middle East.
Car and Driver estimates that the first model will cost around $60,000 when delivered.
Based in Newark, California near Silicon Valley, Lucid Motors was founded in 2007 as Atieva by Bernard Tse, a former Tesla vice president and board member, and Sam Weng, a former exec at Oracle Corp and Redback Networks, Reuters notes. It received backing from Chinese investors, including tech entrepreneur Jia Yueting and state-owned automaker BAIC. Other venture capital backers have included Venrock, Mitsui & Co and Tsing Capital.
