Two former Volkswagen Group engineers were arrested on Friday on US charges of insider trading in Rivian shares.
Prosecutors accuse the pair of using confidential knowledge of the companies’ joint-venture negotiations to make more than $300,000 before the deal was announced.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment on Friday, announcing the case alongside the FBI’s New York field office.
Charged are Michael Stamp, 31, and Marcus Plank, 45, both of San Jose, California, and both based at Volkswagen‘s US operations.
Each faces three counts, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, carrying up to five years in prison, and two securities-fraud counts carrying maximum sentences of 20 and 25 years.
The two were arrested on Friday and are set to make their initial appearances in federal court in the Northern District of California, the district of arrest.
Charged in Manhattan, the case has been assigned to US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.
Prosecutors say the scheme ran from April to July 2024 — with the two purchasing options and equity positions in Rivian before the announcement, while holding material non-public information accessed through their jobs, and selling after it.
The buying began shortly after the pair learned of the discussions and continued in the weeks before the deal was revealed, the indictment alleges.
Project Climb
According to the indictment, Stamp and Plank learned through their jobs of negotiations between Volkswagen and Rivian over a joint venture internally codenamed Project Climb.
Despite owing duties of trust and confidence to their employer, prosecutors say, the pair began buying Rivian stock and options shortly after learning of the talks — weeks before any public disclosure.
The companies announced the venture on June 25, 2024, unveiling a partnership focused on electric-vehicle architecture and software — and sending Rivian‘s share price up 23% the following day.
That single-session jump is what made the alleged pre-positioning so profitable, in a sector where partnership announcements regularly move stocks by double digits overnight.
Stamp and Plank then sold, prosecutors allege.
According to the indictment, Stamp realized about $250,000 in profits and Plank at least about $50,000, while a close family member of Plank made a further $12,000 on shares of their own.
The Search History
The indictment’s most striking detail concerns what the defendants allegedly looked up before the announcement.
Eight days before the deal became public, Stamp searched “statute of limitations insider trading” on Google, according to prosecutors.
After the announcement, a close family member of Plank searched in German for how insider trading is prosecuted, the indictment states.
Prosecutors state plainly that the two understood their actions were illegal.
In a statement, US Attorney Jay Clayton said the pair’s alleged conduct let them profit from information that was not theirs to use.
Such exploitation, he said, “undermine[d] the principles that allow our markets to function fairly and efficiently.”
Clayton added that insider trading is a crime whose effects ripple through the financial system, and one New Yorkers want pursued with vigor.
The Deal They Traded On
The venture at the center of the case has become one of the defining partnerships of the EV transition.
Volkswagen initially committed $5 billion to Rivian, released in tranches against milestones.
The arrangement has since grown to $5.8 billion, making the German group Rivian‘s largest shareholder.
Beyond the capital, the venture develops electric-vehicle architecture and software for both partners, with the stack slated to underpin future models across Volkswagen‘s brands as well as Rivian‘s own lineup.
Its unified RivianOS 2.0 stack is due to reach R1 vehicles later this year after debuting on the R2, according to chief software officer Wassym Bensaid.
The charges do not implicate either company, and no Rivian or Volkswagen employee beyond the two defendants is named in the indictment.
Rivian declined to comment.
A Volkswagen spokesperson said the company is aware of the action, which is “focused on specific individuals and does not involve allegations against the company.”
A Two-Lawsuit Friday for Rivian
The charges landed on the same day Rivian itself went to court as plaintiff, suing the US government for a full refund of the invalidated Trump-era tariffs it paid.
Shares of Rivian fell 3.8% to $15.84 on Friday, valuing the company near $23 billion.
The double dose of legal news extends a demanding stretch for the company.
In recent weeks Rivian has leaned on successive inventory price cuts — reaching $5,000 on flagship configurations — to move 2026 inventory ahead of an expected model-year change.
Financing rates were raised and then reversed inside the same month.
