Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup backed by Jeff Bezos, has replaced its CEO just months before the launch of its affordable electric truck. Former Amazon Marketplace vice president Peter Faricy is now in charge of the company, having started in the role on Monday. Most recently, Faricy served as an advisor at McKinsey and Bessemer Venture Partners. He left his position at Bessemer to join Slate.
The company’s first CEO, longtime Chrysler veteran Christine Barman, is now the President of Vehicles. Barman was Slate’s very first hire when the company was still a secretive project known as re:Car, operating inside a Massachusetts-based manufacturing incubator called re:Build Manufacturing. She stood out as one of only two women CEOs running a U.S. automaker and became the public face of the company after it emerged from stealth in April 2025. In her new role, Barman will focus on everything required to deliver the company’s truck on time and on budget.
Faricy steps into the CEO role as Slate prepares to convert its list of approximately 160,000 refundable preorders into actual vehicle orders. The company has raised around $700 million from Bezos and other wealthy backers. It initially promoted a starting price for its electric truck of under $20,000, but now targets a starting price in the mid-$20,000 range after changes to the federal EV tax credit. Buyers will be able to customize the truck in various ways, including converting it into an SUV for an additional cost.
The leadership change so early in the company’s life may seem surprising, but the appointment of a former Amazon executive aligns with the startup’s deep ties to the e-commerce giant. Jeff Bezos helped fund the startup, as did former Amazon executive Diego Piacentini. Bezos’ family office head holds a board seat, one of Slate’s co-founders is former Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke, and the heads of Slate’s mobility, UX/UI, e-commerce, fleet sales, and HR teams are all former Amazon employees.