China Government Steals Steve Saleen Car Company

Flyn

Go ahead. I'll catch up.
Moderator
TCG Premium
Mar 1, 2004
68,052
27,984
Selling homes on the Gulf Coast of Florida
I didn't even know Saleen had a car company.

China enticed an American entrepreneur with the opportunity of helping build a cutting-edge automobile company in the world’s largest car market, then used the uncertainty cast by COVID-19 to steal his intellectual property, the businessman says.

Steve Saleen, founder of specialty high-performance sports car manufacturer Saleen Automotive, and his partner Charles Wang, a Chinese immigrant and former attorney at a New York law firm, were approached in late 2015 about forming a joint venture with the city of Rugao to manufacture automobiles.

The deal “offered, I thought, from my standpoint, a great opportunity to help build a global company,” Saleen told FOX Business.

The agreement that was reached called for Saleen to contribute his brand and trademarks, designs for three engineered vehicles and experience, know-how and technology in manufacturing automobiles, he said. Those contributions were valued at $800 million.

Wang, who helped structure the deal, would serve as the company’s chief executive officer.


For their efforts, Saleen, Wang and their partners would receive two-thirds ownership of the newly formed company called Jiangsu Saleen Automotive Technologies.

The city of Rugao’s government, which owned the remaining third, was responsible for providing $500 million of capital and $600 million in subsidized loans over three years to fund the operations and build a manufacturing facility. Rugao, located on China’s Eastern seaboard in Jiangsu province, is about 125 miles north of Shanghai.

MAP_CHINA_bejing_shanghai_Hong_Kong_Rugao.png

“It sounded like a great deal to us, so we went along with them,” Wang said, adding that his experience enabled him to set up the company’s corporate governance and articles of incorporation in accordance with Chinese law.

By early 2020, everything was going according to plan. The initial product, an SUV, was in certification and the employee headcount had swelled from three to nearly 1,000. The factory, armed with 470 state-of-the-art robots, was ready for production.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

With both Saleen and Wang stuck in the U.S. as flights to China were grounded, the Rugao government seized on an opportunity to “nationalize the company,” according to Saleen...

...
Without Saleen’s knowledge, officials had previously filed 510 patents for the intellectual properties he developed – 120 of which were already awarded, including his signature supercharger. Many of the filings didn’t even list Saleen as the inventor.

The shareholder who represented the city’s one-third stake held an illegal board meeting and removed Saleen and Wang as directors of the firm, leaving the foreign shareholders without representation, he said. Under Chinese corporate law, a board meeting cannot be held without a quorum of 51 percent of shareholders.

Saleen-SUV.jpg


 
  • Haha
Reactions: LikeABauce302
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 90 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant. Consider starting a new thread to get fresh replies.

Thread Info