Billionaire Soros Buys Stake in EV Startup Rivian

Billionaire Soros Buys Stake in EV Startup Rivian
The company logo is seen on a Rivian R1T pickup, the Amazon-backed electric vehicle (EV) maker, as it is parked outside the Nasdaq Market site during the company’s IPO in Times Square in New York City, on Nov. 10, 2021. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Reuters
2/12/2022
Updated:
2/12/2022

NEW YORK—Billionaire investor George Soros bought nearly 20 million shares of electric truck startup Rivian Automotive Inc. in the quarter ended Dec. 31, securities filings showed Friday.

The 19,835,761 shares, worth about $2 billion at the time, makes Soros Fund Management among the most prominent investors in a company that has yet to produce a consumer vehicle. Rivian, which is 20 percent owned by Amazon.com Inc., is expected to provide the e-commerce company with more than 100,000 electric trucks.

George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations, arrives for a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on April 27, 2017. (Olivier Hoslet/AFP/Getty Images)
George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations, arrives for a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on April 27, 2017. (Olivier Hoslet/AFP/Getty Images)

Irvine, California-based Rivian said in December it expected production to fall “a few hundred vehicles short” of its 2021 target of 1,200 due to supply chain constraints, highlighting the likely challenges in ramping up production to take on EV leader Tesla Inc.

Shares of Rivian fell 9 percent Friday and are down 43 percent for the year to date. The stock price is down 67 percent from the high of $179.46 it touched on Nov. 16, less than a week after it raised $12 billion in the largest stock debut of 2021.

By David Randall