Bezos leaves Slate Auto board, shifts to Prometheus
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- Melinda Lewison stepped down from Slate Auto’s board, according to filings in Delaware, Florida, and Massachusetts, ending her role as the Bezos Expeditions representative.
- Jeff Bezos now has no direct representation on Slate’s board as the EV startup prepares to put its low‑cost electric truck into production later this year.
- Project Prometheus raised over $6 billion late last year and is reportedly seeking $100 billion for a fund to acquire and AI‑automate industrial companies.
- Slate Auto announced a $650 million Series C round led by TWG Global, with Slauson & Co also participating; the company has not disclosed Bezos’s contribution to its $120 million 2023 seed round or confirmed his involvement in the $700 million Series B.
- Chris Barman, Slate’s first hire and former CEO, told TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 that Bezos was “pretty hands‑off,” only visiting once and discussing the vehicle’s future.
- Slate Auto is heavily staffed by former Amazon employees, including co‑founder Jeff Wilke (former Amazon Consumer CEO) and new CEO Peter Faricy (former Amazon Marketplace VP).
Why it matters: Slate Auto loses its sole Bezos‑linked director, cutting the founder’s direct oversight just as the company moves toward production, while Bezos redirects his capital toward a $6 billion robotics venture and a $100 billion AI‑automation fund, shifting resources away from the EV startup.
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