Faraday Future AT CES 2017: 'Global CEO' Ding Lei Leaves Post Week Before Event

Faraday Future’s “global CEO” Ding Lei stepped down from his post just before CES 2017, The Verge reported Thursday.

The company has operated without naming an official CEO for almost two years, but Lei, who is also a top executive at Chinese tech giant LeEco, has been a prominent leader at FF.

Lei, who joined LeEco in 2015 as chairman of LeSupercar, was seen as the company’s second most influential spokesperson after founder Jia Yueting.

A LeEco rep said Lei, who is also the former vice president at the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, still holds his co-founder and global vice chairman of SEE Plan title at the Chinese consumer electronics company.

FF has been having financial problems, as it tried to raise capital despite partnering with LeEco. Financial issues led the company to suspend work on its Nevada production facility in November, just seven months after it broke ground at the site. However, Faraday received permission to test autonomous cars in California this June, and also reached a deal with LG Chem in October for the supply of batteries.

Lei’s abrupt exit from the company comes just days before Faraday reveals its first fully electric production vehicle at CES 2017. Faraday will debut the vehicle on Jan. 3, a year after it unveiled its first concept vehicle, the single-seat FFZERO1, at CES 2016.