Farley admitted he has had “mixed emotions” watching Tesla, Rivian and Lucid surpass Ford’s valuation, though he said Rivian is unique because Ford has a rooting interest in its success. Ford invested $500 million as part of the companies’ 2019 agreement — later increasing the amount to $1.2 billion — and until recently had a seat on Rivian’s board.
Through Rivian’s Nov. 10 public stock offering, the value of Ford’s stake has grown tenfold.
“Rivian’s a special case for us; it’s kind of like a brother or a sister, since we’re an investor,” Farley said. “We know [CEO RJ Scaringe] and the company really well.”
Rivian shares rose 4.2 percent to close at $128.60 on Friday. Ford shares fell 0.9 percent to close at $19.39.
Farley said the companies’ relationship has not soured, calling it “some of the best cooperation we’ve had with another company.”
Rivian, in a statement, said the companies “mutually decided to focus on our own projects and deliveries” as demand for each of their EVs has grown. “Our relationship with Ford is an important part of our journey,” Rivian said, “and Ford remains an investor and ally on our shared path to an electrified future.”
One factor Farley cited in the decision is the complexity that would be required to marry another company’s electric architecture with embedded software developed in-house by Ford.
“We have slightly different business models,” he said. “We like what they’re doing, but we’re going to go our separate ways.”
