Rivian Loses Shine as Investors Worry About Production Delays

The company also told investors that chief operating officer Rod Copes, a Harley-Davidson veteran, left the company last year. Public companies and those in the process of listing their shares often announce that senior executives have left. news first Wall Street Journal.

Ms Mast said Mr Copes “made a phased transition from Rivian in the fall of 2021 prior to the IPO” and retired in December after the offer.

Mr Copes, 55, said in an interview that he did not leave Rivian because of concerns about his performance or problems with production. He said it has achieved key goals and structures are in place for Rivian’s increase in production. “It’s been a smooth and seamless transition,” said Mr Copes.

But corporate governance experts feel that given Rivian’s senior role, it should announce its impending departure to investors during the IPO. “Had they known he was leaving, the most appropriate explanation would have been to identify their COO, but not that he had left,” said John C. Coffee Jr., a professor at Columbia Law School, in an email.

According to a former manager, Rivian has a bad management culture.

Manager, Laura Schwab, he said he was fired from a senior sales and marketing position at the company last year after raising concerns about what he calls “boys club culture” and “gender discrimination”. He filed a lawsuit in state court in California, accusing Rivian of violating state law prohibiting employment discrimination and retaliation.

Ms Schwab said she was part of 30 vehicle launches at previous auto industry jobs, including Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover. Shortly after arriving at Rivian, she said she felt compelled to voice her concerns that the company was in danger of missing its delivery destinations.

“The production line is not going from zero to thousands of cars overnight; It just doesn’t work that way,” he said.