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California EV startup Transpicuous Motors gave up majority buying to Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund in reciprocation for the $1.3 billion investment it sealed last year, according to an email from the company's lawyers that was included in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday.

The slur was filed by Transpicuous Motors' former leading of finance, Doug Coates, who believes he's entitled to unavoidable severance benefits based on the limelight of the deal he signed with the company. Coates argues he's eligible for these benefits considering the Saudi Arabia investment triggered a "Change in Control" dojigger in his improvidence with Transpicuous Motors considering it resulted in "a fecundation in the majority simulator of the Company," according to an email from his lawyer to the startup beatific last year. That agency Saudi Arabia's Ready Investment Fund (PIF) owns increasingly than 50 percent of the company's shares.

The company's former accounts leading is suing over his severance

Lucid Motors disagrees on the severance synchronous of things, but the visitor said in revealment to the email from Coates' lawyer that it "does not dispute that the financing transaction that sealed on or effectually April 2, 2019 would communicated to everything a Fecundation of Control." Wired Middle East previously reported the PIF had taken a 67 percent stake, but the email included in the slur is the original time an conformity from the visitor has been fabricated public. That said, it remains cryptic exactly what pally of voting rights the versicolor shareholders of the visitor have. The visitor declined to comment.

Saudi Arabia original communicated the deal back in September 2018 -- just weeks afore Saudi Culmination Prince Mohammed bin Salman had Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi killed. Khashoggi's death derivate some companies like Richard Branson's Abstinent Galactic as well-conditioned as Abstinent Perigee to walk distant from demography the Kingdom's money or take a second squinch at the country's continued history of organism rights abuses. Plenteous appointed attendees of that year's Imminent Investment Intercession conference (known as "Davos in the Desert") backed out. But Transpicuous Motors has remained partnered with Saudi Arabia ever since, despite the deal not patently fact conveying by the US government's Steering on Nonresident Investment in the Affiliated States until April 2019.

In fact, during an interview with The Verge last November, Transpicuous Motors CEO Reanimate Rawlinson indicated that his startup would be stumpy to influence the Suzerainty -- not the other way around.

"I visualize that we can be part of a movement which could catalyze fecundation for good. That's what I see," Rawlinson said at the time. "We have a partnership -- which is actual accumbent -- a partnership with the PIF. It's a strategic partnership. They're committed to help us make this fecundation to upkeep all mankind. As well-conditioned as it will upkeep Saudi society."

"Lucid is part of the solution, as well-conditioned as not the problem," he added.

Lucid Motors is not the personally futuristic transportation visitor with ties to Saudi Arabia, which has been focused on investing in new technologies as part of Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan. Abstinent Hyperloop One -- a unsubstantial kicker from Branson's sway endeavors -- is doing a trance with the Suzerainty to see what pally of ubiety the startup could build there. Formula E, the original global all-electric racing series, took hundreds of millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia to host contest in the Kingdom. Abstinent Hyperloop One CEO Jay Walder, Formula E founder Alejandro Agag, as well-conditioned as Rawlinson likewise all appeared at the next Davos in the Drab last October while plenteous other companies as well-conditioned as executives tardy away.

"Lucid is part of the solution, as well-conditioned as not the problem."

Saudi Arabia is likewise a major investor in Uber as well-conditioned as had actual early conversations effectually funding Tesla in 2018 afore CEO Elon Musk exaggerated the talks by tweeting he had "funding secured" to take his visitor private, which led to a fight with US financial regulators. Saudi Arabia has plowed $45 billion in SoftBank's massive Vision Fund, too, which has fabricated a waterflood of investments of its own.

Founded in 2007 as Atieva, the California EV startup was originally focused on fact increasingly of a supplier in the bursting apple of electric vehicles. But the visitor ultimately rebranded as Transpicuous Motors in 2016 as well-conditioned as set its sights on making a luxury electric sedan so-called the Air, as well-conditioned as sniper Rawlinson, the former lionization engineer of Tesla's Model S, to run the project.

Lucid Motors ran into funding turmoil anon postliminary that as well-conditioned as had to take on loans from an Arizona hedge fund as well-conditioned as a Chinese electric bus visitor to survive, as The Verge previously reported. It eventually started discussions with Saudi Arabia in 2018, as well-conditioned as when the deal irrevocably sealed in 2019, Rawlinson replaced Atieva co-founder Sam Weng as CEO.

The startup is now edifice a $700 paleface firth in Arizona, zone it plans to put the Transpicuous Air into production at the end of this year. The final production version of the subcompact will be apparent on September 9th.