"Faraday is insolvent", the founder of the "Tesla killer" leaves the company in the midst of a major crisis

Faraday Future is a California-based electric car company. A Tesla competitor with a large investment from Chinese companies behind it. Its first model, the FF91, is an SUV with 1,050 hp, numerous driver identification systems and more than 600 kilometers of autonomy. But what seemed like a success story, even allying with Aston Martin, has now come full circle with the resignation of one of its three founders.

Through a letter posted on his LinkedIn profile, Nick Sampson announces that he is leaving Faraday Future after more than four years with the company. A decision that comes just a day after Peter Savagian, VP of technology and John Schilling, director of communication, have also left. But this is not all. In an official statement last week, Faraday Future announced salary cuts to cope with the loss of its largest financial backer, the Evergrande group.

Additionally, according to an email obtained by TheVerge, both the Hanford factory and its headquarters in Gardena have been paralyzed and workers are being invited to leave the company without receiving settlements or to enter into an ERE that It would take place in December and would last until the company receives the financing again. More than 100 engineers from Tesla, Ford and other large companies have been recruited to work on the development of this promising electric car manufacturer.

Investors leaving and others cutting back

The situation has changed radically compared to the end of June when they announced a round of financing worth 2,000 million dollars and the continued development of the FF 91. In that move, Jia Yueting, became CEO of Faraday Future.

Jia Yueting is a businessman with a fortune of 3.8 billion according to Forbes and best known for also being the founder of LeEco, a large Chinese company that promised to aspire to compete with Netflix and Apple but ultimately went bankrupt. Among the criticisms of his management, it is said that he hired people beyond his real possibilities and his aspirations were as high as they were scattered.

Nick Sampson's resignation was unexpected. According to sources familiar with the situation used by Sean O'Kane, no one expected him to leave the company. But according to statements collected by TheVerge, the founder's vision reflects quite well what is happening: "The company is insolvent both in its financial and labor responsibilities. In the best of cases it will limp for the next few years. I feel that my role in Faraday Future is no longer a path I can follow, so I will be leaving the company immediately."

While the current CEO has emailed all workers proposing pay cuts, Nick Sampson says these cuts are basically a way of shutting down the company. The founder himself leaves the door open to return to his company in case the situation changes radically and adds: "I cannot stop thinking about the devastating impact we are having on the lives of our workers, their families and the knock-on effect that will have on our suppliers and the industry."

In addition to the dispute between its founders, the current financial situation is as follows: Faraday Future has agreed with the Evergrande group to make 20% cuts, but the CEO has also been accused of wasting $700 million since July. Something that has led to the denial of the remaining 1,200 million that remain to be provided according to the round of financing carried out. The case has been taken to a financial mediator in Hong Kong, who has finally given the go-ahead to invest 500 million as long as the rest of the investors agree.

In the meantime, Faraday Future workers are waiting to see how the situation will be resolved and if the promising FF 91 finally goes into production.