FF has started the top-level governance structure reform: Jia Yueting resigned, the father of BMW i8 took over

Outside analysts believe that Jia Yueting's resignation as CEO and public recruitment of global chairman is obviously a very important step in this organizational structure change. This means that FF's ongoing top-level governance structure change has entered the project execution stage.

FF officially started the transformation of the company's top-level governance structure.

On September 3rd, local time in the United States, Faraday Future (FF), an electric car company headquartered in California, officially announced the appointment of Dr. Carsten Breitfeld as global CEO. At the same time, FF founder Jia Yueting will resign from his original CEO position and serve as CPUO (Chief Product & User Officer).

It is understood that Breitfeld is a world-renowned electric vehicle expert who worked at BMW for 20 years and created the i8 plug-in electric vehicle, making him the father of the BMW i8. In addition, Breitfeld is a rare global elite in the industry who has not only worked for international brands but also founded his own electric vehicle brand. After assuming the position of global CEO of FF, he will fully lead the company's core team to achieve strategic goals, continue to create industry-leading technologies and products, and focus on promoting ongoing financing activities.

Carsten Breitfeld joined FF as the company's global CEO, and Jia Yueting resigned from the company's original global CEO position and transferred to the company's CPUO position, which also means that FF has officially started the transformation of the company's top-level governance structure. It is understood that after Jia Yueting transferred to the company's CPUO, he will be responsible for the overall implementation of the Internet ecosystem strategy, leading artificial intelligence, product definition, user acquisition, user experience and user operations and other related work.

There were early signs that Jia Yueting would resign, and he has repaid a total of 21.8 billion yuan in debt

The Beijing News has previously confirmed through multiple sources that Jia Yueting will step down as FF's global CEO and hand over the company's top governance to the "Partnership Committee." A person close to Jia Yueting said: "Jia Yueting has previously repaid more than $3 billion in domestic debts. There was also a debt repayment fund before, but it was not called this name. The establishment of the debt repayment trust fund is to solve the debt problem as soon as possible and thoroughly," the person told the Beijing News.

On August 29, in response to a series of recent media reports about the adjustment of FF's governance structure and Mr. Jia Yueting's resignation as CEO, FF issued a statement, in which it highly praised Jia Yueting's contribution: the Internet ecosystem model created by FF founder and CEO Mr. Jia Yueting ten years ago is still crucial to FF's long-term development. Mr. Jia Yueting's dream vision and strategic foresight have endowed FF with the gene of change; his layout in business model innovation has also laid the foundation for FF's differentiated competitive capabilities; at the same time, he will continue to promote FF to achieve long-term strategic goals in the fields of product technology innovation and user ecosystem innovation.

The statement confirmed the existence of the debt repayment trust fund. "Jia Yueting has repaid more than $3 billion of domestic debts in various ways over the past two years. The establishment of the debt repayment trust fund is to solve the debt problem as soon as possible and thoroughly." The above statement said. "He used his personal FF shares to establish a debt repayment trust fund, and the future proceeds from FF's listing will be used to repay the debt. In addition, Jia Yueting will also sell some of his FF shares, and the amount is not yet clear." The above-mentioned person close to Jia Yueting said.

Regarding the funds obtained from the dilution of Jia Yueting's shares, an FF insider said: "It is not cashing out, and investors cannot let him cash out now. The money from the sale of shares is used for the development of FF. If there is any income from his shares in the future, this part of the income will be used to repay the debt trust."

Earlier, The Paper reported that Jia Yueting had repaid 21.8 billion yuan in debt by selling assets and other means.

According to FF's official introduction, Jia Yueting will take up the newly established CPUO position of FF, responsible for the overall implementation of the Internet ecosystem strategy, and leading related work such as artificial intelligence, product definition, user acquisition, user experience and user operations.

“As the founder of FF, my time as FF CEO has been an extremely honorable and wonderful journey for me,” said Jia Yueting. “In the process of transforming and subverting the traditional automotive industry, I am very proud of our professional team and the many achievements we have made. My vision is to create a new species that truly combines the ‘smart driving platform’ and the ‘third internet living space’, fundamentally redefining transportation, travel and connectivity.”

Carsten Breitfeld joins FF as CEO to accelerate financing and mass production and launch of FF 91

It is understood that after Breitfeld takes up the position of FF's global CEO, he will make full use of his profound industry experience to lead FF to continue to create industry-leading forward-looking innovative technologies and products, manage the team's efficient operation, and promote the company's ongoing financing activities in all aspects.

In the short term, he will lead the team to make all-out efforts to prepare for the mass production of the first ultra-luxury smart Internet "new species" FF 91 electric car, and complete the final research and development of the next large-scale mass-produced luxury model FF 81 smart electric car.

“I am very happy to become FF’s global CEO and look forward to leading the FF global team to the next stage of success,” said Carsten Breitfeld. “I decided to join FF mainly for the following three reasons: first, Mr. Jia Yueting; second, FF’s industry-leading products and technologies; and finally, the global partnership system.”

"Mr. Jia Yueting and I have known each other for many years and have discussed my joining us many times in the past four years. I personally admire his entrepreneurial spirit and his ability to accurately predict the future travel ecosystem. As an entrepreneur, I also understand better than others the unremitting efforts and contributions he has made as the founder of FF in realizing his dreams and original intentions," said Carsten Breitfeld.

“I am very impressed by the steady progress made by the company’s flagship product FF 91. When I saw FF’s products, innovative technologies, and the many dedicated employees working at FF, it became clear to me that FF is becoming the new standard in the smart mobility industry, and I need to be a part of it,” said Carsten Breitfeld. “I am very happy to have this opportunity to work with Mr. Jia Yueting, apply his forward-looking strategic thinking, continue to inherit and expand the vision he set when he first established FF, and I am confident that I can lead the team to realize the final production of this groundbreaking electric vehicle.”

Regarding Dr. Breitfeld joining FF and taking over the position of CEO, Jia Yueting said: "I believe that after Dr. Breitfeld takes over as CEO, we will work together with the management team to successfully realize our original vision of a shared smart travel ecosystem."

FF will recruit a global chairman to formally start the top-level governance structure reform

On the same day, FF also officially announced that it would openly recruit for the position of global chairman. According to FF officials, Jia Yueting will work with Bi Fukang to build a stronger product technology and global management team, and will continue to deepen the reform of the top-level governance structure.

In a statement on August 29, FF said that it has been working hard to promote the reform of the company's top governance structure since the end of last year, and has officially entered the implementation stage. The statement also said that through this reform of the governance structure, FF will continue to attract more outstanding talents. FF's previous organizational optimization has promoted the company's organizational structure reform and global integration and collaboration, promoted more capable and young middle-level cadres to leadership positions, and greatly improved the overall organizational innovation and combat effectiveness.

Previously, an insider close to FF told the Beijing News: "The adjustment of the governance structure means that the company plans to implement a partnership system. Jia Yueting wants to distribute his personal shares to the company's internal employees, similar to Alibaba's partnership system, rather than establishing a new joint venture." She also denied the foreign media reports that FF will establish a new reorganized joint venture, "We have not introduced new investors for the time being, but we will definitely introduce new investments in the future."

The foreign media website reported that in the new management structure that FF is about to build, FF will select partners from inside and outside the company. While selecting outstanding internal employees, it will also attract external investors to invest.

The partnership system stipulates that FF will grant equity to future FF partners and internal employees. As the restructuring progresses, Jia Yueting's equity ratio will be diluted. This means that if FF's partnership system goes smoothly, Jia Yueting will gradually lose control of FF, and the actual control of the company will be transferred to the "Partnership Committee."

In fact, FF announced as early as 2018 that the company was ready to go public. Earlier on November 13, 2018, FF announced at its US strategy meeting that the company would go public in 2020. Jia Yueting said that sovereign funds from the United States and the Middle East have become potential investors in FF and plan to advance FF's IPO time to 2020. At the same time, Jia Yueting announced that FF will implement a "partnership system" and he will use 64% of his personal equity for employee incentives.