Ford Dumped 7 Million More Rivian Shares On Friday

After selling 8 million shares at $26.80 on Monday in a move that would cause Rivian shares to open last week’s trading in shaky fashion, Ford reportedly dumped another 7 million shares at $26.88 on Friday.

That brought Ford’s total shares sold to more than $400 million, according to Bloomberg. It also cuts the automaker’s stake in Rivian to nearly 87 million shares. The sales come after a lockup ended last week. 

Ford had initially invested $1.2 billion in Rivian and saw the value of its investment balloon since Rivian’s public market debut. But since then, its stock has crashed from highs near $172 to a low of $19.25 this past week.

Ford called the share sale “prudent”, Bloomberg reported. A spokesperson for Rivian told Bloomberg: “It’s not unusual to see investors take an opportunity like this after a successful IPO. We remain focused on delivering on our vision to create a more sustainable future powered by EVs, and building long-term value for all of our current and future shareholders.”

Rivian’s IPO was a memorable one, and emblematic of the profit-less tech craze that characterized the pandemic-era market. It was the sixth biggest IPO in US history, generating more than $13 billion to fund growth for the EV-maker, unfortunately, production of its products at its plant in Normal, Illinois has lagged due to supply-chain pressures.

Back in March, the company said it expected to produce 25,000 electric trucks and SUVs this year, as the start-up battled through supply chain constraints and internal production snags. That would be just half of the vehicle production it forecast to investors last year as part of its IPO roadshow.

Late last month, Amazon and Ford revealed that they had lost a combined $12.3 billion on their Rivian investments.