Volkswagen has become Rivian’s largest shareholder, replacing Amazon

Volkswagen has pushed Amazon off the top spot to become Rivian’s largest shareholder, new filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show.

The VW Group’s increasing stake in Rivian, which has grown from 8.6% to 15.9% in less than two years, is linked to a joint venture with the electric car startup. The joint venture Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies – officially formed in November 2024 – focuses on developing electrical architecture and software.

This share will continue to grow, as long as Rivian continues to fulfill its part of the bargain.

Volkswagen has committed to investing $5.8 billion in Rivian, capital that is unlocked when certain milestones are reached. The German automaker began the deal with an initial investment of $1 billion, followed by another $1 billion in mid-2025.

Rivian received another $1 billion last month after completing winter testing of the VW ID.EVERY1, a small four-door hatchback that will be the first vehicle under the joint venture to be equipped with its software and electrical architecture.

The latest Securities and Exchange Commission documents, filed Monday, show that VW Group now owns 209.7 million shares of Rivian stock.

Amazon, a long-time supporter and customer, owns 12.28% of Rivian. Amazon was an early backer of Rivian, investing $700 million in the company when it was still a privately held startup. The company revealed in 2021, ahead of Rivian’s IPO, that it owned a 20% stake in Rivian. Amazon is not just an investor in Rivian, but also a customer. In September 2019, Rivian entered into an agreement with Amazon to produce 100,000 electric delivery trucks.

Other major shareholders include Oryx Global, with an 8.6% stake, and Vanguard, with a 5.1% stake. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe owns approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares.

Volkswagen’s deal with Rivian comes at a critical moment for the electric car maker as it has poured millions of dollars into research and development and pushed to bring the R2 from the design studio to the assembly line. Rivian began production of the R2 in April, and is expected to begin delivering the midsize SUV to customers in the coming weeks.

If the joint venture between VW and Rivian is successful, it could lead to future technology licensing deals with other companies or new categories. For example, the joint venture with Volkswagen excludes artificial intelligence and autonomy, two areas on which Rivian has focused significant capital in recent years. Rivian invested $1.7 billion on R&D in 2025, up from $1.6 billion in 2024, the company’s annual filings showed. Much of that was directed toward autonomy efforts — so much so that it prompted the company to push its profitability goal beyond 2027.

In a filing detailing Rivian’s new partnership with Uber, Rivian revealed that it does not expect earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to be positive next year due to its R&D spending.