Rivian’s chief lobbyist to depart EV startup in February

This post was originally published on this site

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Rivian Automotive Inc’s (NASDAQ:RIVN) chief lobbyist, Jim Chen, is departing the company. Chen is the latest high-level exit at the electric vehicle company in recent months, including its general counsel and head of supply chain.

Before he joined Rivian in 2018, Mr. Chen was a former executive at Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), where he spearheaded the company’s state-by-state fight to allow direct-to-consumer sales, a core business strategy for EV-only makers such as Rivian and Tesla. Mr. Chen is expected to leave Rivian at the end of February.

Shares of RIVN are up 10.87% near mid-day trading on Monday.