Rivian’s shares declined 6.8% to $15.66 in midday trading on Friday, extending a decline that began after-hours on Thursday. The stock approached the lower bound of its 52-week range between $12.39 and $22.69, reflecting investor unease following the announcement of key executive changes.
The company said Claire McDonough will step down as chief financial officer on October 30, 2026, to join GE Vernova as its CFO. McDonough, who joined Rivian in January 2021, played a central role in the company’s financial strategy, including its $13.7 billion initial public offering and a $5.8 billion investment from Volkswagen tied to Rivian’s electrical architecture. She also oversaw cost-reduction initiatives that helped reduce quarterly losses over time. Rivian emphasized that the resignation was not due to any internal disagreement.
Derek Mulvey, Rivian’s vice president of finance and a company veteran since 2021, will serve as interim CFO while the company searches for a permanent replacement. The transition coincides with a critical phase for Rivian, which is scaling production and deliveries of its R2 midsize SUV—a model viewed as pivotal to the company’s path to profitability.
The broader market showed modest weakness, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq edging lower as investors awaited remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole symposium on interest rate policy. Within the electric vehicle sector, Rivian was an outlier, with peers largely avoiding similar declines.
