Youth Served On Rivian Exec Team

Rivian’s R1T pickup truck, which began deliveries a month ago, is the newest electric vehicle to hit the U.S. automotive market this year.

The R1T is certainly not the only thing trending young at the closely watched Irvine EV maker, whose forthcoming initial public offering is expected to vault the company to the top of the list of the most valuable public companies in Orange County.

With an average age of 39, the three-person executive team of Rivian also stands out for its youth.

It’s among the youngest average age seen for an executive team of a larger-sized business preparing to go public since the 2012 IPO of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB).

Mark Zuckerberg (then 27) and his team averaged 38 years of age at the time of its IPO, according to regulatory filings for the social media giant, now valued around $950 billion.

Few Under 40

Thrity-eight is also the age of Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, who will stand out from the executive crowd once Rivian goes public.

Just 6% of S&P; 500 CEOs were younger than 50, according to a report in 2019 by the Wall Street Journal. Only two, including Zuckerberg, were under the age of 40 at the time of the report.

The average age of a new hire for a S&P; 500-level CEO was nearly 59 that year, according to other industry data.

The 2019 WSJ story documenting exec team ages highlighted once local outlier as a counterpoint: Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), which the prior year hired former Taco Bell exec Brian Niccol (then 45) as its CEO.

Niccol brought “fresh energy” to the company, Chipotle said at the time.

The move to youth (and a headquarters move from Denver to OC) served Chipotle well; the Newport Beach-based firm’s stock is up more than fivefold since Niccol’s 2018 hiring and its $52 billion valuation ranks it second among OC’s public companies.

OC Comparisons

Chipotle’s exec team now counts an average age of 53, according to the company’s latest proxy filing.

That compares to an average age of 57 at OC’s most valuable public company, Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW), and an average age of 46 at Masimo Corp. (Nasdaq: MASI), OC’s fourth-most valuable public company.

Masimo’s 56-year-old CEO, chairman and founder Joe Kiani is the Irvine company’s oldest senior executive.

Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS), OC’s third-most-valuable public company with a nearly $27 billion market cap, doesn’t break down the ages of all its executives. President and CEO Liam Griffin was 54 as of the company’s latest proxy filings.

As for Rivian’s main competition in the EV industry? Telsa Inc.’s three-person exec team (Nasdaq: TSLA) averaged 42 at the time of its last proxy filing; CEO Elon Musk is 50. 

The Team

The following are snapshot bios of Rivian’s exec team, based on info from the company’s IPO prospectus.

RJ Scaringe

TITLE: Founder, CEO, Chairman of the Board

AGE: 38

START DATE: June 2009, when the company was founded; appointed chair of the board in March 2018

EDUCATION: B.S., mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; M.S., Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, Sloan Automotive Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Claire McDonough

TITLE: Chief Financial Officer

AGE: 40

START DATE: January 2021

EDUCATION: B.A., public policy and visual art from Duke University; M.B.A., University of Chicago Booth School of Business

BACKGROUND: Most recently served as managing director and co-head of disruptive commerce, J.P. Morgan. Has also worked at Fairway Market as vice president and treasurer, senior director of finance and strategy.

Jiten Behl

TITLE: Chief Growth Officer

AGE: 39

START DATE: October 2020

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s of engineering, Visvesvaraya Technological University in India; M.B.A., University of Chicago Booth School of Business

BACKGROUND: Most recently served as principal at Roland Berger in the global automotive practice and management for the North American division.

Experienced Directors

While Rivian’s exec team skews young, the automaker’s board—drawn from its largest investors and other businesses—has its share of experience. They count an average age of 57, not including chairman RJ Scaringe.

Here’s a quick rundown of each director:

Karen Boone

TITLE: Director, member of audit and compensation committees

AGE: 47

START DATE: August 2020

EDUCATION: B.S., business economics from University of California, Davis

BACKGROUND: Former president and chief financial and administrative officer at Restoration Hardware Inc., Deloitte & Touche LLP audit partner. Currently on the Sonos Inc., Peloton Interactive Inc., Tory Burch LLC, Clif Bar & Company, Collective Health and Modern Animal board of directors.

Sanford Schwartz

TITLE: Director, member of the compensation and planet and policy committees

AGE: 68

START DATE: September 2019

BACKGROUND: Cox Enterprises Inc. veteran since 1985 and is currently CEO of the Cox Family Office. Former Cox Automotive Inc. president and CEO. Currently serving on the board of A.C. Green Youth Foundation and Northwood University. Also worked at Manheim (president), Cox Media Group (president), AutoTrader and AutoTrader Publishing (president), Cox Arizona Publishing (president), Austin American-Statesman (executive vice president), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (VP, GM), Cox Newspapers (EVP), Cox Enterprises (VP of business development).

Rose Marcario

TITLE: Director, member of the planet and policy committee

AGE: 56

START DATE: January 2021

EDUCATION: B.S. in business and finance from State University of New York at Albany; M.B.A. from California State University, Dominguez Hills

BACKGROUND: Most recently served as president and CEO of Patagonia Inc. Also held the CFO and COO positions at the outdoor retailer before helming the company. Former CFO of Apple Computer spin-off General Magic, VP of global finance and treasury of International Rectifier Inc. Currently on the boards of directors for Meati Inc., Ajna BioSciences PBC.

Peter Krawiec

TITLE: Director

AGE: 49

START DATE: February 2019

EDUCATION: B.A., economics from Trinity College; M.B.A., Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

BACKGROUND: Currently senior vice president of worldwide corporate and business development at Amazon, Rivian’s largest investor. Previously served as vice president of worldwide corporate development at Amazon.

Jay Flatley

TITLE: Director, member of the audit and nominating and governance committees

AGE: 68

START DATE: May 2021

EDUCATION: B.S., M.S. in industrial engineering from Stanford University; B.A., economics from Claremont McKenna College

BACKGROUND: Acting CEO of Zymergen as company conducts CEO search. Former chair of Illumina Inc. board. Also held roles at Illumina including executive chair, CEO and president. Co-founder and former president and CEO of Molecular Dynamics. On board of directors for Wellcome Leap Fund, The Salk Institute board of trustees, chair of the Iridia Inc. board of directors.

Pamela Thomas-Graham

TITLE: Director, member of the audit and nominating and governance committees

AGE: 58

START DATE: August 2021

EDUCATION: B.A., economics from Harvard University; M.B.A./J.D. from Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School

BACKGROUND: Founder and current CEO of Dandelion Chandelier LLC. Before that worked at Credit Suisse (chief marketing and talent officer, head of private banking wealth management new markets and executive board member), McKinsey & Co. partner, CNBC Television and CNBC.com (global chair and CEO), Liz Claiborne Inc. (group president).