The man holding the purse strings for the state of Nevada is saying the "Future" in Faraday Future is a little too cloudy for his liking. Nevada treasurer Dan Schwartz is questioning how the electric supercar maker will finance a $1 billion factory it's planning for North Las Vegas, according to Bloomberg News. Such questions are relevant because the California-based company is looking for some financial perks from the Silver State, which is no stranger to high rollers.
Faraday Future is backed by China-based mogul Jia Yueting, whose financial resources are primarily tied to Leshi Internet Information & Technology. While that company has a $15 billion market value and boosted first-quarter profit 20 percent up from a year earlier, its stock trading was halted through the first five months of the year. Since trading was resumed in early June, the stock is down 11 percent.
Yueting has invested about $300 million in Faraday Future and has pledged $5 billion in Leshi shares as collateral, but the equity-backed loans are of little comfort to Schwartz. That's because the state may provide $120 million in infrastructure improvements as well as $215 million in tax credits for the factory, and if the company's financial footing is unstable, Schwartz says Nevada taxpayers risk footing the bill for part of a project that may never be completed.
Nevada legislators approved the tax credits and abatements late last year, when Faraday Future pledged to sink $1 billion into the plant within the next 10 years. The automaker followed that up earlier this year by unveiling its FFZERO1 electric vehicle at Las Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show. While the Batmobile-resembling concept version wasn't drivable, Faraday Future says the model will deliver more than 1,000 horsepower and have a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour.
Faraday Future:
Faraday Future is backed by China-based mogul Jia Yueting, whose financial resources are primarily tied to Leshi Internet Information & Technology. While that company has a $15 billion market value and boosted first-quarter profit 20 percent up from a year earlier, its stock trading was halted through the first five months of the year. Since trading was resumed in early June, the stock is down 11 percent.
Yueting has invested about $300 million in Faraday Future and has pledged $5 billion in Leshi shares as collateral, but the equity-backed loans are of little comfort to Schwartz. That's because the state may provide $120 million in infrastructure improvements as well as $215 million in tax credits for the factory, and if the company's financial footing is unstable, Schwartz says Nevada taxpayers risk footing the bill for part of a project that may never be completed.
Nevada legislators approved the tax credits and abatements late last year, when Faraday Future pledged to sink $1 billion into the plant within the next 10 years. The automaker followed that up earlier this year by unveiling its FFZERO1 electric vehicle at Las Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show. While the Batmobile-resembling concept version wasn't drivable, Faraday Future says the model will deliver more than 1,000 horsepower and have a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour.
Faraday Future:
Featured Gallery Faraday Future FFZERO1: CES 2016
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