Recently, the Group Corporation released its 2020 interim report. During the reporting period, the company realized revenue of 15.493 billion yuan, an increase of 11.48% year-on-year; realized net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 2.454 billion yuan, an increase of 9.20% year-on-year; realized non-recurring net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 1.849 billion yuan, an increase of 62.84% year-on-year; realized net operating cash flow of 2.29 billion yuan, an increase of 607.65% year-on-year. $Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (FFIE.US)$ A document submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the company will increase founder Jia Yueting's salary by 50%. Jia Yueting's annual base salary will be raised from $0.45 million to $0.68 million (equivalent to approximately RMB 4.8 million). At the same time, Faraday Future's CEO, Matthias Aydt, will also receive a raise, with his annual base salary increasing from $0.4 million to $0.7 million.

Since the beginning of this year, Faraday Future has only delivered 3 new cars. This electric vehicle company, which has been losing money for more than a decade and has only delivered 13 cars since its inception, recently announced layoffs. Why did they suddenly give Jia Yueting a raise?

Jia Yueting's salary increase exceeds 50%

On September 10th local time, Faraday Future submitted a document to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicating that the company will increase the salaries of CEO Matthias Aydt and founder Jia Yueting. Jia Yueting's annual base salary will be raised from $0.45 million to $0.68 million, an increase of over 50%; Aydt's annual base salary will be increased from $0.4 million to $0.7 million, a 75% increase.

However, Faraday Future also emphasized that despite the salary increase, the company is implementing cost reduction measures. Since October 2023, including Jia Yueting and Aydt, most executives and employees have not received full salaries. Jia Yueting has only received 37% of his annual base salary of $0.45 million, while Aydt has received 44% of his annual base salary of $0.4 million.

The recent salary increases for the two of them have certain conditions and they will not receive the full salary in the short term. Their annual base salaries will be calculated proportionally, with Jia Yueting and Aydt receiving $0.612 million and $0.55 million respectively. Additionally, they must agree to use a portion of their base salary to purchase company stocks. Jia Yueting must purchase $0.34 million worth of stocks, while Aydt must purchase $0.35 million worth of stocks. Furthermore, they will only receive the remaining salary increase when the company restores full salaries for all other employees.

According to the latest document, Jia Yueting has also received a one-time bonus of $0.5 million, a discretionary annual bonus of $0.816 million, and two annual stock awards worth over $4 million in total. Aydt will also receive a one-time bonus of $0.5 million, a discretionary annual bonus of $0.7 million, and two annual stock awards worth over $4 million in total. The one-time bonus will be paid in installments, with each person receiving 25% of the bonus on September 30th of this year, another 25% on October 31st, and the remaining amount to be paid on September 30th, 2025 or upon completion of financing exceeding $30 million, whichever is earlier.

It is worth noting that Faraday Future has recently laid off or temporarily dismissed most of its employees. But now it is generously increasing the salaries and bonuses for its founder and CEO, which has raised questions from the outside.

In response to this, Faraday Future responded to the media that Jia Yueting and Matthias Aydt were appointed to new roles in February and September 2023, but there have been no salary adjustments. Recently, the company regained compliance notification from Nasdaq, met all the standards for continued listing, and completed a new round of financing, which allows for salary adjustments.

Faraday Future also stated that Jia Yueting and Aydt will fulfill their previous commitments and execute the executive shareholding plan, with the shareholding period scheduled from September to November 2024. In addition, starting from December, until the salaries of all employees are restored to 100%, they will continue to increase their shareholdings.

The company has just received a financing commitment.

Before this salary increase, Faraday Future announced to the public that the company has received a financing commitment.

On September 6th, Faraday Future announced that the company has successfully obtained a financing commitment of $30 million from the Middle East, the United States, and Asia. Master Investment Group participated in this financing. Master Investment Group is located in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, and is owned by Sheikh Abdulla Al Qassimi. Faraday Future stated that the participation of Master Investment Group in this financing is an important milestone, indicating the company's successful expansion in the region and the efforts made by the company for the region's development. Faraday Future said, "Through this financing, the company further strengthens its international influence and lays a strategic foundation for its future business growth and new opportunities."

This financing commitment includes a pre-injection of $7.5 million and an additional $22.5 million (financing), in the form of convertible notes and warrants to purchase additional common shares of the company in the future. The conversion price of the convertible notes is $5.24 per share, and the exercise price of the warrants is $6.29 per share, which can be adjusted according to the relevant terms and conditions. The corresponding common shares corresponding to the convertible notes and warrants issued in the financing have not been registered yet, and are subject to trading restrictions and cannot be traded immediately. Financing must meet standard delivery conditions.

On the same day, September 6th, Faraday Future also announced that the company has received written notice from Nasdaq confirming that the company has regained compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rules regarding the stock price requirement and periodic filing requirement, and the company now meets all the standards for continued listing on Nasdaq. On the same day, Jia Yueting posted on Weibo, stating that the company has officially regained compliance for listing, and the delisting risk since the beginning of this year has finally been eliminated, and the battle to protect the dream has finally come to an end. Jia Yueting said, "Finally, I can take off the shackles of listing compliance and move forward with all my strength. During this period, we have done a lot of things under tremendous pressure and made many decisions that have been seriously misunderstood by everyone, and have experienced a lot of suffering and grievances."

However, according to the recently disclosed financial report, the cash flow of Faraday Future looks tight. On August 15th, the company's financial report revealed that in the first half of 2024, Faraday Future had a revenue of approximately 0.295 million USD, with a net loss of 0.157 billion USD; compared to a loss of 0.27 billion USD in the same period last year.

In the second quarter, the company's operating expenses were 29.9 million USD, a decrease from 49.4 million USD in the same period last year; with an operating loss of 50.6 million USD, compared to 56 million USD in the same period last year. As of June 30, Faraday Future's book total assets were approximately 0.458 billion USD, total liabilities were approximately 0.309 billion USD, and net assets were approximately 0.149 billion USD. In the six months ending on June 30, 2024, cash used in operating activities decreased significantly from 0.1607 billion USD in the same period last year to 29.1 million USD. As of the end of the second quarter, Faraday Future had only 0.793 million USD in unrestricted funds on the books.

In June of this year, Jia Yueting revealed that "Faraday Future is considering launching a second brand under the 'China-U.S. Auto Industry Bridge Strategy', and introducing mass-market models for the general public." At that time, FF was unable to purchase components due to a lack of funds and had not delivered new vehicles for four months. On June 13, Faraday Future announced the completion of the delivery of a new car to a senior individual investor user. This was the 12th FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance delivered by Faraday Future since the start of mass production in 2023, and the first delivery completed after a 4-month hiatus in deliveries. Faraday Future CEO Matthias Aydt stated that, until the completion of strategic investor financing, the company will strive to deliver one new car every month as long as the necessary component funds can be raised.

Then on August 13, Faraday Future completed the delivery of the 2nd FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance since the restart of SOD2. This was the 13th vehicle delivered by the company since the start of mass production in 2023, and the 13th vehicle delivered in over a decade of the company's existence.

Recently, in the secondary market, Faraday Future's stock price has fluctuated significantly. On September 4, the company's stock price surged nearly 90% at one point intraday, ultimately closing up 52.77%. The day before, Jia Yueting announced on his personal Weibo that FF (Faraday Future) officially launched the "People's AI Car, People's Selection, Co-creation" questionnaire survey on September 4, inviting global tech talents to participate in co-creating the second FF brand. In the video, Jia Yueting stated: "We hope that everyone can participate in the process of serving the second brand's strategy and product definition to create a mass-market model that meets the needs of the U.S. market."

On September 13, Peking time, Faraday Future announced that it will hold the Second Brand Strategy and Global Auto Industry Bridge Launch Conference on September 20 Peking time. On that day, the stock price of Faraday Future surged nearly 3% at one point, but ultimately closed down more than 1%. Currently, Faraday Future has a market cap of only 0.05 billion USD.

Editor/Lambor