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Rivian Shares Plummet After Ford Dumps 8 Million Shares
David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
Rivian shares continued their downward slide Monday after stockholder Ford Motor Company announced that it is dumping 8 million shares in the Irvine-based electric truckmaker.
Over the weekend, it emerged that the Detroit auto giant plans to reduce its position in Rivian, which totaled 102 million shares, after it was released from a six-month lockup period in the wake of Rivian’s November initial public offering.
In turn, Rivian’s stock started the week’s trading by continuing its months-long decline, shedding another 21% on Monday and retreating ever further from the autumn highs that briefly made it one of the world’s most valuable automakers. The company’s shares closed at $22.78, on a day when the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange it trades on fell 4.3% amid an ongoing stock market selloff.
To be clear, Ford’s retreat doesn’t mean it is bailing on its Rivian investment entirely; the Detroit automaker still owns 94 million shares in Rivian and, alongside Amazon, remains one of the largest investors in the electric truck and SUV manufacturer. But it does see a major Rivian backer limiting its exposure to the stock in the face of production setbacks and vehicle price hikes brought about by rising costs and supply chain woes.
Despite those setbacks, Rivian announced last week that it had secured $1.5 million in tax incentives to begin construction on a new auto plant in Georgia that is expected to add 400,000 vehicles to its annual production capacity. If the company can achieve anywhere close to that level of production in the next five years, Rivian could finally prove a real rival to Tesla and other EV competitors.
Rivian is set to release its first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday. Should the company’s performance meet or exceed expectations, it could help stem its stock’s downward momentum and calm the nerves of jittery investors; if not, Ford’s decision could be a harbinger of things to come.
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David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
LA Tech Updates: Apple Podcast Vet Joins QCODE, Amazon Reportedly in Talks to Buy Wondery, Pharrell's New Black Ambition Incubator
04:33 PM | December 02, 2020
Here are the latest updates on news affecting Los Angeles' startup and tech communities. Sign up for our newsletter and follow dot.LA on Twitter for more.
Today:
- Apple Podcast Veteran Steve Wilson Joins Startup QCODE
- Amazon in Exclusive Talks to Buy Podcast Studio Wondery, Wall Street Journal Reports
- Pharrell Launches Black Ambition Incubator
Apple Podcast Veteran Joins Startup QCODE
QCODE, a Los Angeles podcast startup run by a former Creative Artists Agency talent agent, snagged longtime Apple podcast executive Steve Wilson. The 15-year veteran will become QCODE's chief strategy officer.
QCODE, which last month raised $6.4 million in a Series A round led by Sono, is positioning itself as a funnel for Hollywood.
Founded by Rob Herting, a former agent who had represented largely writers and filmmakers, the company has produced eight shows since 2019. Several have been auctioned for film and television, including "Dirty Diana." Amazon picked up the 6-part erotic drama for a TV series.
Wilson, who most recently ran marketing for Apple Podcasts, brings insights from the behemoth platform as the industry sees revenues soar. Advertising brought in near $1 billion this year, according to Interactive Advertising Bureau's podcast report prepared by PwC.Amazon Reportedly in Exclusive Talks to Buy Wondery
Amazon is in "exclusive talks" to buy podcast company Wondery and subsume its 30 hit shows and over 8 million monthly listeners into its empire, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The talks reportedly value Wondery above $300 million, in line with previous estimates from analysts, when Apple and Sony were said to have expressed interest.
Wondery has produced dozens of original series including "Dr. Death" and "Business Wars," and has 19 shows currently in development to become television series.
The company does not publicly disclose its financials, but chief executive Hernan Lopez has previously said the company is profitable. About three-quarters of Wondery's revenue comes from advertising, but Lopez has said the company's revenue share from content licensing is growing (Wondery owns the intellectual property for all of its originals). It also launched a subscription service, Wondery Plus, in June and is currently looking to expand its international footprint.
Wondery, the West Hollywood-based company with the largest audience of any independent podcast producer, has been the subject of swirling rumors that several suitors are interested in acquiring it.
After a pandemic-induced decline that struck much of the podcasting industry, Wondery's audience has surpassed its pre-COVID levels. Its Q3 revenue was about double year-on-year and its Q4 performance has been strong, Lopez previously told dot.LA.
Podcasting overall now attracts over 100 million monthly listeners, according to Edison Research. The Interactive Advertising Bureau projects podcasting revenues to exceed $1 billion by 2021.
That growth has spurred somewhat of an arms race, most evident in Spotify's spending spree, which also has helped that company diversify from its reliance on streaming. Amazon Music is one of Spotify's biggest competitors along with Apple Music, and recently expanded into podcasts as well.
Acquiring Wondery would give Amazon more content to slide into Amazon Music, a scaled-down version of which is free for Amazon Prime subscribers. Combining that content with its Alexa smart speaker also could empower the company to capture more eyes and ears in the increasingly competitive attention economy.
The talks are reportedly ongoing and no deal has been confirmed.
Pharrell Launches Black Ambition Incubator
Rapper and producer Pharrell Williams released "Entrepreneur" with Jay-Z earlier this summer, a song that became an anthem for Black ambition. Now, Williams is launching an incubator to put money behind his message.
Called Black Ambition, the nonprofit aims to invest in Black and Latino startup founders, and it's beginning by creating two prize competitions set to close in July 2021. The effort backed by Adidas, Chanel and philanthropic organizations including The Rockefeller Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation. Silicon Valley startup investor Ron Conway and Buzzfeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti also contributed.
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LA Tech ‘Moves’: MeWe Taps Apple Co-founder, Aspiration Swipes Tesla Director
12:00 PM | August 05, 2022
Photo by James Opas | Modified by Joshua Letona
“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.
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Aspiration, a sustainable financial services company, appointed former Tesla director Tim Newell as its first chief innovation officer. Prior to leading teams at Tesla, Newell also worked under the Clinton Administration as a deputy director for policy in the White House office of science and technology.
All-electric vehicle manufacturing company Phoenix Motorcars hired industry veterans Lewis Liu as senior vice president of program management office and business development. Phoenix also hired Mark Hastings as senior vice president of corporate development and strategy and head of investor relations.
Counterpart, a management liability platform, welcomed Claudette Kellner as insurance product lead and Eric Marler as head of claims. Kellner served at Berkley Management Protection as vice president, while Marler previously served as an assistant vice president at the Hanover Insurance Group.
Legal tech and eDiscovery veteran Mark Wentworth joined compliance software company X1 as external vice president of sales and business development.
Sameday Health, a testing and healthcare provider, named Sarah Thomas as general counsel. Thomas previously served at digital health company Favor.
MeWe, an ad-free and privacy-first social network, tapped the co-founder of Apple Steve Wozniak to its advisory board, and co-founder of Harvard Connection Divya Narendra to its board of directors.
Internet marketplace Ad.net, welcomed former Interpublic CEO David Bell to its board of directors.
Science and technology company GATC Health, appointed addiction specialist Jayson A. Hymes as a new advisory board member.
AltaSea, a non-profit organization that aims to accelerate scientific collaboration, added South Bay philanthropist Melanie Lundquist to its board of trustees.
Correction:An earlier version stated Divya Narendra was added to MeWe's advisory board.
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Decerry Donato
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
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