Faraday Future Leadership Change

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (“FF”, “Faraday Future”, or “Company”), a California-based global shared intelligent electric mobility ecosystem company, today announced personnel changes to help further the Company’s short- and long-term business goals. On September 17, 2024, the Board of Directors of the Company appointed Koti Meka as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and principal financial officer, effective September 23, 2024. In his new position, Mr. Meka will oversee FF’s Accounting and Finance business units and report directly to Matthias Aydt, FF’s Global CEO. In addition, the Company recently announced that Aaron Ma has been appointed as the Acting Head of EV R&D, effective August 20, 2024. In this new role, Mr. Ma will oversee the FF Global EV R&D business and will also report directly to Mr. Aydt.

On September 19, the Company officially kicked off its dual-brand strategy by announcing its second brand, Faraday X (FX), and its launch plan for the first batch of planned products, including innovative ways in creating AIEV (Artificial Intelligence Electric Vehicle) products with “twice the performance at half the price” for our future users. Both Meka and Ma in their new roles will drive forward the strategic goals for the FF and FX brands including the R&D and maintaining cost efficiencies throughout the development and launch of FX.

Meka, age 55, served as the Company’s Acting Head of Finance Operations since November 2023, managing finance operations, heading financial planning and analysis, and supporting process improvement, target setting and cost-reduction efforts. Meka replaces Jonathan Maroko, Interim Chief Financial Officer of the Company, who resigned effective September 20, 2024. Maroko will continue to work with the Company as a consultant.

Previously, Meka served as the Company’s Director of Finance (FP&A) from July 2017 to November 2023, Operations Controller from August 2016 to July 2017, and Senior Manager, Cost Estimating from February 2016 to August 2016. Prior to joining the Company in February 2016, Meka worked at Ford Motor Company from July 2002 to February 2016 in cost optimization, product development finance and corporate finance, including leading financial analysis at Ford Business Services Center in Chennai, India from December 2009 to July 2013. Meka holds an MBA from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University and a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India.

Ma’s current position as the Global Vice President of the IAI software R&D will remain unchanged, reporting to Rao Hong. In this role, he has demonstrated exceptional strategic vision and leadership. He has successfully led the IAI product, UI, and core application development teams, significantly enhancing product performance and user experience through innovative solutions and strategic initiatives.

Before joining FF, Ma spent five years at LeEco, driving product innovation and market expansion through strategic leadership, and seven years serving as vice president of R&D at Meizu where he significantly contributed to research and development management by spearheading the launch of groundbreaking products crucial to the company's growth and competitive success in the tech industry. Ma’s over 20 years’ extensive experience and proven leadership capabilities make him exceptionally well-suited to lead FF’s EV R&D business as it enters the next phase of growth and innovation. The Company believes that with Ma’s leadership and Aydt’s direction, the FF R&D platform will accelerate innovation, drive transformative advancements, and solidify FF’s position at the forefront of the electric vehicle industry.

"We are excited to welcome Koti and Aaron to their new roles within FF. Both bring many years of experience gained at both FF as well as at their previous roles outside of FF. They have made significant contributions to our organization and have been reliable partners in all my various roles here," said Aydt. "I look forward to Koti leveraging his experience to drive necessary changes in our finance operations. And with Aaron, we are confident that under his guidance, the EV R&D team will continue to achieve new milestones and advance our strategic objectives.”

Aydt also expressed gratitude to Maroko for his ongoing contributions to FF, stating, "I am thankful that Jonathan will continue to support us in a consulting capacity. His insights have been instrumental in developing our cost optimization and reduction strategies, ensuring our continued success."

ABOUT FARADAY FUTURE

Faraday Future is the pioneer of the Ultimate AI TechLuxury ultra spire market in the intelligent EV era, and the disruptor of the traditional ultra-luxury car civilization epitomized by Ferrari and Maybach. FF is not just an EV Company, but also a software-driven intelligent internet Company. Ultimately FF aims to become a User Company by offering a shared intelligent mobility ecosystem. FF remains dedicated to advancing electric vehicle technology to meet the evolving needs and preferences of users worldwide, driven by a pursuit of intelligent and AI-driven mobility.