As part of its now-completed internal inquiry, Faraday Future, the struggling EV startup turned publicly listed business, has taken additional disciplinary action, including removing founder and former CEO Yueting Jia as an executive officer. Yueting Jia, or YT, will remain as chief product officer and report to the executive chairwoman, the business said in a securities statement Thursday. YT’s role, on the other hand, will be confined to focusing solely on the product and mobility ecosystem, the internet, artificial intelligence, and advanced R&D technology. According to the petition, he will no longer be an executive officer.
It’s uncertain if the conclusion of the inquiry will allow the business to complete its 2021 annual report on time in order to comply with Nasdaq requirements and avoid being delisted. Faraday Future, which has been dogged by controversy from its inception in 2014, merged with Property Solutions Acquisition Corp in July 2021 to become a publicly traded corporation. Only a few months later, trouble arose when a short seller report by J Capital claimed that Faraday Future had made a number of false representations. A special committee of directors initiated an internal investigation, which enlisted the help of a forensic accounting company and independent legal counsel.
Faraday’s board has placed Matthias Aydt, senior vice president of business development and board member, on six-month probation as an executive officer, beginning immediately, as a result of its most recent findings. During his tenure, he will continue to serve on the board as a non-independent member. Additional “disciplinary measures and terminations of employment with respect to other firm workers (none of whom are executive officers),” according to the corporation. Those workers were not identified by the firm. According to the filing, Jiawei (Jerry) Wang, the company’s VP of Global Capital Markets, who had been suspended, has resigned.
Faraday Future said late last month that the Securities and Exchange Commission had subpoenaed several executives as part of an inquiry into false claims made to investors. That subpoena came nearly two months after an internal probe found that workers at Faraday Future made false claims to investors and that the company’s “business culture failed to appropriately prioritize compliance.” Faraday Future restructured its board, reduced the compensation of two key executives, and suspended at least one more as a result of the internal investigation. This notification comes on top of the previous action.
