The CTO takes his whole team and leaves in February. The head of product and engineering “disappears” a few month before production starts and is quickly replaced by a former Tesla guy who was basically currently unemployed. In both cases there was no statement from Rivian saying goodbye and good luck makes me think both walked out. The COO also left early this year. Storm clouds ahead will we ever see a quality pickup from them? Prediction - Unlikely
Any good startup makes exec changes as they scale up, because the kind of execs you need for an early stage company typically have different skill sets from the kind you need when you've got billions in the bank and are ramping up to production.
The CTO, Jim Bell, had been at Rivian a whopping 9 months and had no automotive background, his area was mobile devices and wifi. His previous gig was at a company that produced smart meters for public utility companies. I have no inside information, but sure sounds like he wasn't a great fit.
Rivian did make statements.
"Rivian says that Jim Morgan, the startup’s original COO, will continue to advise CEO RJ Scaringe, and that he initially came aboard as a placeholder until it found a permanent replacement."
“From time to time, it’s important for any performance-focused and fast-growing company to streamline its organization to improve effectiveness,” Amy Mast, Rivian’s public relations director, said in a statement. “Rivian remains healthy, growing, and focused on the launch of our products.