RJ Scaringe’s Rivian Automotive Is Set To Go Public—What’s Scaringe’s Net Worth?

Robert Joseph "RJ" Scaringe is an American entrepreneur, executive, and engineer in the automotive industry. He's the founder and CEO of Rivian Automotive, an EV (electric vehicle) maker backed by Ford and Amazon.

Scaringe was born in 1983 and was raised in Rockledge, Fla., on the Space Coast. Here's a look at his net worth, personal life, and career.

Scaringe’s estimated net worth is about $1 billion, according to Forbes. He was listed as the 891st-richest person in the world and 340th on the Forbes 400.

Scaringe graduated from MIT's Sloan Automotive Lab with a PhD in mechanical engineering. He grew up with a passion for classic vehicles and, at the age of 18, he decided to start his own automotive company.

In Aug. 2014, Scaringe married Meagan McGone in Belleville, Mich. They have three children together. The family splits their time between the Bloomington-Normal, Ill., area and Irvine, Calif.

Scaringe worked for several large automotive companies during his early career. He started Rivian Automotive in 2009 with the purpose of creating robust, luxurious, battery-powered vehicles. Rivian's first two cars, the R1T pickup truck and the R1S SUV, were unveiled by Scaringe in 2018.

Rivian delivered its first vehicles a few months ago, largely to its own staff. While the company is still effectively pre-revenue, it has a backlog of 55,400 pre-orders for its R1S and R1T vehicles. The R1T truck starts at $67,500, and the R1S SUV starts at $70,000. The company plans to complete these orders by the end of 2023. Rivian estimates that its annual production will reach 150,000 vehicles at its main plant by 2023.

Amazon has purchased 100,000 cars from Rivian to be delivered by 2030, and the companies intend to have 10,000 new Rivian-Amazon delivery trucks on the road as soon as next year. On Nov. 10, Rivian is going public through a traditional IPO. The company raised $11.9 billion by offering 153 million shares at $78 each. The offering valued Rivian at $76.4 billion on a fully diluted basis. In a funding round in Jan. 2021, Rivian raised $2.65 billion. That round gave it a valuation of $27.6 billion.

There’s limited information about Scaringe and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s friendship. In Aug. 2021, Musk said that Rivian should have delivered at least one EV per $1 billion of its proposed valuation before it went public. In Oct. 2021, Musk tweeted “these are strange days,” with companies that haven’t sold a single car commanding values in the billions. Amazon, which is controlled by Jeff Bezos, is leading the Rivian public offering, elevating the billionaire's rivalry with Musk.