Faraday Future, the beleaguered EV startup that has now gone public, has reshuffled its leadership ranks.
The board fired CEO Carsten Breitfeld, according to a regulatory submission posted on Monday after markets closed. Brietfeld, a former co-founder of failed EV startup Byton, assumed the leadership role at Faraday Future in September 2019.
The board said on Monday it has appointed Xuefeng Chen, a former and longtime Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automobile executive who most recently headed Faraday Future’s China division, as its new CEO. As Faraday’s new global CEO, Chen will receive an annual base salary of $900,000, a performance-based bonus of up to $600,000 and a cash signing and retention bonus of $500,000. The retention bonus must be paid back if Chen resigns or is terminated without cause within the next 36 months. Chen will also receive limited stock and performance-based limited stock units.
The CEO turnaround is the latest in a series of internal dramas and financial problems that have plagued the company for years. Even its public debut at CES 2016 was controversial.
The chaos at the company has only increased since it went public in July 2021 through a merger with Property Solutions Acquisition Corp. Investigations, a restructuring and a going concern warning are just some of the dramatic events in the past 18 years. months.
Brietfeld’s resignation comes just a week after the company warned it might not be able to continue for the next year and that it was uncertain when the first FF 91 luxury EVs would be delivered.
The company has repeatedly postponed the FF 91 vehicle, which had received only 369 non-binding pre-orders by November 17. While Faraday Future appeared to have a $350 million lifeline in recent weeks, it may not be enough to continue operations or deliver on its long-promised vehicle.