R1T Truck

Make
Rivian
Segment
Sports Car

Up until now, Rivian has enjoyed the financial backing of Ford and Amazon, but it is set to go public soon. This is a huge step forward, following the recent introduction of the R1T, which appears to be a smash hit. According to Rivian's IPO filing, the SUV will start production in December. The EV company is reportedly worth $80 billion.

As a reward to customers who pre-ordered one of its products, a chance to be a part of what Rivian calls a Directed Share Program (DSP). In short, Rivian intends to reserve a portion of common stock for eligible customers in the USA. These shares will be offered to customers at the IPO price, without the added cost of a brokerage fee.

One such customer shared an email with us he received from Rivian explaining the reasoning.

According to the email, the Directed Share Program will not be under the control of Rivian but one of their underwriters. Eligible customers who register will receive another email in the coming weeks with more information. The registration process ends on Monday, October 25, 2021, at 11:59 PM PDT. After that, Rivian customers will have to buy shares like everyone else. Rivian also mentions that registering does not automatically guarantee you will receive an allocation of shares to purchase.

The email also shares further criteria to be eligible for the DSP. In addition to residing in the USA, a customer must have placed a pre-order of a Rivian R1T or R1S by September 30 2021.

Going public has been a double-edged sword for Rivian. A successful initial public offering (IPO) will likely result in a large influx of cash, but the road to that big pile of money is proving to be tricky.

Rivian is facing a few inconvenient supply chain questions, and the related paperwork showed that Rivian lost $1 billion in the first half of 2021. That's not surprising, considering that the first production car only rolled off the assembly line in September. The sheer amount of pre-orders is promising, however.

While all of this is going on, Rivian is still tied in a court battle with Tesla. Tesla is claiming Rivian poached intellectual property and employees.