Faraday Future paid $7.5M to founder-linked firm in 2025

According to a regulatory filing, electric vehicle startup Faraday Future paid around $7.5 million to an affiliate controlled by its founder, Jia Yueting, in 2025. The payments occurred during a year of severe operational and financial strain for the company. Faraday Future delivered only four vehicles and lost nearly $400 million over the course of 2025.

The transactions were disclosed in the company’s annual proxy filing published on Thursday. The payments were routed to FF Global Partners LLC, an affiliate controlled by Jia Yueting. The $7.5 million total included:

• Monthly consulting fees of $100,000
• A $2 million bonus payment
• A $1.7 million loan repayment
• An additional $2.6 million in unexplained payments

The proxy filing highlights the substantial control Jia exerts over the startup through this affiliate. In the filing, Faraday Future stated: “Jia and FF Global, over which Mr. Jia exercises significant influence, have control over our management, business and operations, and may use this control in ways that are not aligned with our business or financial objectives or strategies or that are otherwise inconsistent with our interests”

These payments occurred while Faraday Future was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US financial regulator. The SEC was probing related party transactions between the startup and entities linked to Jia, as well as disclosures from when the company went public in 2021 and early EV sales in 2023. Although the SEC dropped its investigation in March, governance concerns persist. Jia, who is blacklisted by China for financial fraud, was previously sidelined by the board in 2022 after an internal probe. This triggered a campaign by FF Global to replace board members, during which multiple board members received death threats before resigning. Jia has since returned as the company’s sole CEO.

The proxy filing also revealed other transactions involving Jia-related entities. Faraday Future paid $700,000 to a loan company associated with Jia in 2025. Additionally, the startup still owes $8.5 million to Leshi Information Technology Co. Ltd., a company related to Jia’s former conglomerate, for advertising services. Jerry Wang, who serves as a president at Faraday Future and a voting manager at FF Global, draws a salary from the affiliate, alongside his wife, who heads FF Global’s legal department. FF Global also maintains a consulting agreement with AIXC, a crypto holding company run by Wang.

Why it matters

The disclosure of $7.5 million in payments to an affiliate controlled by founder Jia Yueting highlights ongoing corporate governance concerns at Faraday Future, even after the SEC dropped its investigation into related party transactions.