The head of Jeff Bezos’ family office has stepped down from the board of Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup backed by the Amazon founder, according to multiple government filings reviewed by TechCrunch.
Melinda Lewison, who heads investments at Bezos Expeditions, appears to have resigned at some point in recent months, according to documents filed with the secretaries of state of Delaware, Florida and Massachusetts. That leaves Bezos without immediate representation on Slate’s board as the company prepares to put its low-cost electric truck into production later this year.
Slate did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Lewison and Bezos did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
Lewison’s departure raises questions about Bezos’ support and involvement with the startup at a time when the Amazon founder is now apparently focused on robotics in his new startup, Project Prometheus. That company raised more than $6 billion late last year and is reportedly seeking $100 billion for a new fund that will focus on buying industrial companies in order to automate them with artificial intelligence.
The exact level of Bezos’ involvement in Slate has always been hard to pin down. The company never disclosed how much money the Amazon founder contributed in the first round of funding in 2023, which totaled about $120 million. Slate Auto also has not confirmed whether Bezos participated in the company’s Series B round, which brought its total funding to about $700 million.
Last month, Slate announced a $650 million Series C round, but named only one lead investor: TWG Global, a firm run by Guggenheim Partners managing director Mark Walter. Los Angeles-based VC firm Slauson & Co, an existing investor, confirmed to TechCrunch that it was also involved.
Chris Barman, Slate’s first hire and former CEO, he said on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 that Bezos was “very comfortable.”
“We had an interface where we invited him and he came and he joined us once on the trip, and he looked at the vehicle and we talked a little bit about what the future might be,” he said late last year. “But other than that, it’s a long way off and really lets us focus on getting the vehicle to market.”
However, Slate Auto is loaded with Amazon alumni. It was founded by former Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke. The new CEO of the automotive startup is Peter Faricy, former VP of Amazon Marketplace. Many of the company’s divisions are run by former Amazon employees.
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