Author | Lu Shiming

Editor | Da Feng

It seems that for Jia Yueting, attracting investment has become a breeze. Even though countless people call him the "biggest liar in China," and even though countless capitalists and institutions have seen the cautionary tales of the past, it seems that as long as he wants it, there is an endless supply.

Recently, after a long silence of over half a year, Jia Yueting once again leveraged his powerful persuasive skills to secure a $30 million (approximately 210 million yuan) funding commitment for Faraday Future (FF), officially regaining compliance for its listing and sending its share price soaring.

Standing at the forefront, Jia Yueting also issued a call to invite technical talents from around the world to participate in the creation of FF's new sub-brand. The new "blueprint" with "AI" and "EV" as its keywords has already begun to take shape, and Jia Yueting's deceptive tactics have taken on new rhetoric.

Looking back at the years of Jia Yueting and FF, it seems that hope and disappointment have always coexisted. Whenever everyone thinks it's impossible, he always manages to make a big splash. And when someone has high hopes for him, he reveals various major issues.

This comedy entitled "Suffocating for Dreams" is still unfolding, but what kind of plot will the next episode bring?

Securing Funding Commitment

Public information reveals that the financiers successfully deceived by Jia Yueting this time come from the Middle East, the United States, and Asia.

According to reports, FF's current funding round includes a pre-injection of $7.5 million and an additional $22.5 million in financing, in the form of convertible notes and warrants that can be used to purchase the company's newly issued common shares in the future. The conversion price of the convertible notes is $5.24 per share, and the exercise price of the warrants is $6.29 per share, both of which can be adjusted according to relevant terms and conditions.

Among them, Master Investment Group, an investor from the United Arab Emirates, participated in this round of funding.

Sheikh Abdullah Al Qasimi, the owner of the group, said, "I am delighted to represent Ras Al Khaimah and the United Arab Emirates in this funding round. As a strategic partner of FF, I am thrilled to assist FF in expanding its business in Ras Al Khaimah and the Middle East. I believe this will present unprecedented growth opportunities for FF, not only injecting critical momentum into its strategic development but also providing robust support for its rapid global expansion."

Judging from the previous outcomes of FF investors, who were left in tears, it is clear that the Master Investment Group's owner is "too happy" too soon. It seems that he is still in a highly excited state after being brainwashed by Jia Yueting and has no concept of the tragedy that will unfold in the future.

Of course, from FF's perspective, every time a new investor joins the fray, it always sparks excitement.

Matthias Aydt, CEO of FF Global, excitedly stated, "This new funding will bring more possibilities to FF, including supporting our ongoing FF912.0 production and enhancing product and software updates, which fills me with great encouragement."

Converting $30 million to Chinese yuan amounts to over 210 million yuan. While this amount may not seem significant in the context of automobile manufacturing, it is indeed a substantial sum for Jia Yueting. It's worth noting that just half a year ago, FF was sued by its landlord for defaulting on tens of thousands of yuan in rent and was forced to sell its production facility, resorting to renting instead.

Photo: Faraday Future's US headquarters

In mid-August, half a year later, FF finally completed the delivery of its second FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance since restarting production from SOD2 at its "leased" production facility. This is also the 13th vehicle delivered by FF since its inception over a decade ago and after raising billions in funding.

So, the question arises: Can the $30 million in funding from this round support FF in building another vehicle?

Regaining Listing Qualification

On the same day that FF announced the funding commitment, it also shared another piece of good news with its "audience."

FF announced that it had received written notice from Nasdaq confirming that the company had regained compliance with Nasdaq's listing requirements regarding share price and periodic reporting. As a result, FF now meets all the standards for continued listing on Nasdaq.

According to previous reports, FF received a delisting notice from Nasdaq on April 24 this year due to its share price closing below $0.10 for ten consecutive trading days, failing to meet Nasdaq's listing requirements.

In response, Jia Yueting frequently expressed on social media platforms that he would embark on personal IP commercialization to earn money for car manufacturing (preparing to monetize and "harvest" investors) and that he and the company's management team would take all feasible measures to maintain the company's compliance with listing requirements.

Regarding FF's persistent underperformance and repeated brushes with delisting since its listing, Jia Yueting attributed the direct cause to funding issues and the root cause to issues of confidence and trust. He blamed the inaction of professional managers and special committees, claiming that it had caused FF to miss its golden development period.

After regaining listing compliance, Jia Yueting once again released a video discussing the matter, stating that the risk of delisting has always loomed over the company like a dagger. Since the new management team took office, they have been dealing with historical issues left by the previous management, making it impossible for them to fully focus on business operations. Now that the shackles of listing compliance have been lifted, FF can finally move forward full steam ahead and officially launch its dream realization campaign.

Despite regaining listing qualification, the persistent issue of funding shortages remains a chronic problem for FF.

According to its 2024 semi-annual performance report, FF generated a cumulative revenue of $295,000 in the first half of this year. With significant reductions in R&D and sales costs, its net loss narrowed from $270 million in the same period last year to $157 million (approximately 1.1 billion yuan). As of June 30, the company's total assets stood at approximately $458 million, with total liabilities of approximately $309 million and net assets of approximately $149 million.

FF's dismal financial data in its 2024 semi-annual performance report is hardly appealing to retail investors in the secondary market. For FF to quickly resolve its funding challenges, it ultimately relies on Jia Yueting's new concepts, plans, and presentations.

Sure enough, riding on the momentum of securing funding commitments and regaining listing qualification, Jia Yueting has come up with a new trick.

Establishing a New Sub-Brand

On September 4, EST, FF's share price surged, once rising by over 80%. By the close, the share price had increased by 52.77% to $5.24, with a total market value of $64.87 million.

In terms of news, Jia Yueting launched a global technical talent recruitment campaign on social media, inviting technical talents worldwide to participate in the creation of Faraday Future's new sub-brand.

Jia Yueting stated that FF's global automotive industry bridge strategy and second brand plan would help the company leverage artificial intelligence and software technology to serve users in multiple market segments, potentially accelerating its entry into the mass market while maintaining its ultra-luxury product positioning.

Regarding the market positioning of its two brands, Jia Yueting explained that the FF brand targets the high-end market, characterized by its inability to achieve large-scale production. In contrast, the second brand focuses on the entry-level and mid-range markets, prioritizing scale.

Source: Jia Yueting's Sina Weibo

According to the plan, FF will hold the "FF Sino-American Automotive Industry Bridge Strategy and Second Brand Launch Event" on September 19 and will focus on developing mass-market products priced between $20,000 and $80,000.

According to Jia Yueting, FF's second brand will focus on AI and EV, emphasizing "extreme cost-effectiveness" and offering AI and EV products with "double the performance at half the price." However, the planning and layout of the new brand and new vehicles are primarily targeted at the US market. They plan to conduct extensive user research to involve consumers in the co-creation process of the new brand and vehicles, aiming to develop models that better suit the local mass consumer group.

In reality, what Jia Yueting refers to as AI and EV is simply "smart electric vehicles," a marketing gimmick that domestic new energy vehicle companies have already overused. Concepts like intelligent driving, smart cockpits, and AI big models are no longer novel.

Apart from the outdated concepts, the idea of mass-producing low-cost products is nonsensical. Mass-produced products heavily rely on a systematic industrial ecosystem. With only 13 vehicles produced in over a decade, how can FF achieve mass production?

In response, Jia Yueting proposes the "Sino-American Automotive Bridge Strategy," which, in a nutshell, involves partnering with Chinese automakers and component suppliers to leverage China's new energy vehicle industry chain to promote its second brand. However, with the label of "China's Biggest Liar," which supplier would be willing to collaborate with FF? And which automaker dares to partner with Jia Yueting?

It can be concluded that this is yet another case of "all thunder and no rain" or perhaps even worse, with no rain at all. Jia Yueting's road back to China remains uncertain and distant.