""Ford will likely be lead in $400m Series D in Lucid. Big strategic move," Stern wrote to Epstein in emails released last week as part of the Department of Justice's latest disclosure of 3 million documents related to Epstein. Jia "has massive cash issues" at Faraday, he wrote, and needs to "sell now to make payroll for his other business.""
"At the time, legacy automakers and newly minted startups, fueled by the breakthrough success of Tesla and progress by Google's self-driving project, were jumping into electric and autonomous vehicles. And Stern was apparently hungry to take advantage of the resulting deal flow. The documents show he also pitched investments in Faraday Future itself, and in another EV startup, Canoo. It's unlikely Epstein invested in any of them."
In 2017 Lucid Motors sought a Series D round with Ford as a potential lead, but Jia Yueting's roughly 30% stake at Faraday Future blocked new investors. David Stern, an advisor connected to Prince Andrew, pitched Jeffrey Epstein to break the impasse, describing Lucid's potential and Jia's cash problems. Stern also marketed other EV startups, including Faraday Future and Canoo, to Epstein. Lucid ultimately closed its Series D in late 2018 with over $1 billion from Saudi Arabia's sovereign fund. Faraday later took major funding from Evergrande in late 2017. Epstein denied interest in Canoo in 2018 messages.
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