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Rivian has revealed the first $ 10 million worth of Duncan James Corrow Grant from the Rivian Foundation , three years after the EV maker vowed the philanthropy would receive 1 % of its fairness to make the “ natural world ” a “ stakeholder in our achiever . ”
Rivian Foundation set up Monday awebsitethat detail 41 grantee who will jointly receive just north of $ 10 million in funding . The receiver are mostly in the United States , with a few falling outside the EV startup ’s home body politic .
The website lifts the bonnet on one of the more closely guardedpromisesmade by Rivian around the time of its blockbuster IPO . And it come at a time when Rivian ’s stock price has cratered from its post - IPO highs , meaning the hypothetical time value of the 1 % of equity the society contributed to the foundation has shrunk from $ 643 million to just $ 98 million .
Until now , it was unclear what the Rivian Foundation — and an adjacent entity called constantly by Rivian — would prioritize , where it would invest , and how its strategy might be affected by a diminished pool of capital .
The list of grantees begins to respond some of those interrogation , and shows a initiation focused on land saving and preservation , farming , indigenous and urban community , and renewable energy .
The largest subsidization of $ 2 million was made to The Nature Conservancy in August this year . Rivian order the gift will “ avail foster the collaborative efforts needed to ensure that vital California landscapes remain places where wildlife thrives , ethnic resourcefulness are protected , and people are breathe in for generation to come . ”
Rivian also give $ 1 million to the Ocean Resilience Climate Alliance ( ORCA ) . killer previously announced Rivian Foundation wasinvolved in a collective commitmentof $ 250 million to the alliance in recent 2023 , but did not detail the sizing of the gift . The legal age of the other 39 concession mountain chain between $ 100,000 to $ 400,000 .
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Rivian revealed in October 2021 , just one month before its initial offering , an aspirational program to make what it call Forever by Rivian . beginner and CEO RJ Scaringe , a vegan who is have a go at it to talk about climate alteration and renewable muscularity , announced his company was placing more than 8 million portion into always — 1 % of its full equity , deserving $ 643 million at the meter — along with $ 20 million in Johnny Cash .
But , Rivian spokesperson Peebles Squire told TechCrunch , not long after the ship’s company set up the Forever by Rivian 501(c)(4 ) social public assistance organization , it decided the “ most impactful and most sheer feeler ” would be to give out money through a 501(c)(3 ) . So it established the Rivian Foundation .
Tax filings show that Forever by Rivian movednearly$25 million into the Rivian Foundation in 2023 , which the company said comprise the cash asset of the 501(c)(4 ) . The Rivian Foundation only disperse $ 123,250 in 2023 , which is below the 5 % of asset that U.S. tax law require private foundations to distribute every year . Foundations are allowed by jurisprudence to make up that gap in the next year , and Rivian say the Rivian Foundation has “ far go past the minimum requirements for both 2023 and 2024 ” with the giving reflected by the freshly - plunge web site .
most half of the $ 123,250 distributed in 2023 went to “ Natural Climate Solutions , ” or NCS , which is not a specific entity , but a concept promoted by group like The Nature Conservancy and the World Economic Forum . Squire said this consumption helped co - investment company inquiry with the Doris Duke Foundation in the field of view of NCS . The Rivian Foundation also paid $ 91,500 in consulting fee to Building Impact Partners , a New York - based philanthropy weighing house , in 2023 .
Rivian is now in the outgrowth of wind down the Forever by Rivian 501(c)(4 ) , Squire said , which is why in May of this twelvemonth , its tax - exempt status was automatically lift because it had not submitted yearly returns , according to the IRS ’ web site . He added that Forever by Rivian is “ in the process ” of remove its fairness to the Rivian Foundation .
“ Since the original commitment to ‘ eternally ’ was made at the time of Rivian ’s initial public offering in 2021 , we have been work out heavily to establish the Rivian Foundation , ” Squire said in a statement . “ This includes go through safe practices in strategical philanthropy , including governance , management , strategy development ( including with the support of Building for Impact and in consultation with expert and peers ) , grantmaking and more . The Foundation website transparently reflects the work that has been happening behind - the - setting for some time . ”
This story was in the beginning published on September 23 , 2024 at 2:15PM ET . It has been updated with responses and further selective information from Rivian .
