The First Major Investor
In 2012, Abdul Latif Jameel became the first major investor in Rivian, an electric vehicle startup based near Detroit. Nobody outside the deal knew. Hassan Jameel was flying to Detroit every other month, working closely with Rivian founder and CEO R.J. Scaringe, and the investment was structured in tranches rather than a single commitment — trust built gradually on both sides.
“We kept Rivian in stealth for a good eight years because we wanted to make sure we didn’t flex our muscles until we had muscles to flex,” Hassan has said. The investment thesis was clear: ALJ had deep expertise in automobiles, wanted exposure to the U.S. market — the world’s largest for SUVs and pickups — and saw the electric vehicle transition coming before it became consensus.
Then Amazon and Ford Arrived
When Amazon announced a plan to purchase 100,000 Rivian delivery vehicles in 2019 — and Ford announced a major investment the same year — the eight-year silence ended. What had been a quiet bet on a startup became one of the most talked-about EV investments of the decade. ALJ had been there since the beginning.
Hassan’s account of the investment reflects how ALJ makes most of its big decisions: identify a sector with long-term tailwinds, find a partner whose values align, and resist the pressure to move before the product and the team are ready. “I can’t think of a time in my life when we acquired a business for the purpose of flipping it,” he has said. That same patience now governs agreements with Uber on autonomous vehicles and Joby Aviation on electric aircraft.
Lessons in Mobility Disruption
The Rivian story also informs how Hassan talks about mobility’s future. “We wanted to be part of the disruption in mobility — we looked for ways to be disruptors rather than to be disrupted,” he has said. At a recent congress in Riyadh focused on the future of mobility, Hassan expanded on how ride-hailing, insurtech, fintech, and autonomous systems are creating pressure for traditional automotive companies — and why ALJ’s background gives it tools to navigate that pressure.
Hassan served on Rivian’s board before stepping down. The Jameel family’s investment in Joby’s Series C round — led by Toyota Motor Corporation in 2020 — followed a nearly identical model: early entry, close partnership, long horizon.