Description: Rivian is a tiny company in the electric vehicle space, having only produced around 150 vehicles so far. But it does have a couple of big backers, namely Amazon and Ford. Rivian went public last week through an initial public offering (IPO) that might be called a spectacular takeoff. Despite its marked lack of production, Rivian was loved by the market, and by week’s end its market valuation exceeded not only that of its sponsor Ford, but also that of General Motors, an automotive giant that sold close to 7 million vehicles in 2020.

Date:  November 11, 2021

Source:  cbc.ca

 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rivian-electric-car-1.6245695

Discussion points:

1) Had you ever heard of Rivian prior to reading this story?

2) Why do you think that investors have valued the company so highly?

3) On page 11-9 in Wiley’s Understanding Financial Accounting we read about the concept of an initial public offering (IPO) What legal document is provided to possible investors before the sale of shares in an IPO?