Mate Rimac, Founder of Rimac, is in talks with Porsche to buy theirPorsche’s 45% stake in Bugatti Rimac, aiming for full control of the joint venture formed in 2021. According to Bloomberg, the proposed offer reportedly values the company at $1.1 billion.
Rimac publicly stated his desire for greater independence to “make long-term decisions” without needing layers of corporate approval. Negotiations are active, and the deal could close within the next year if both sides agree.
Bugatti Rimac was created to merge Rimac’s electric-vehicle innovation with Bugatti’s engineering legacy. Under the structure, Rimac Group holds 55%, while Porsche owns the other 45%. Such a structure would give Rimac traditional majority control; however, it has not provided Mate with complete governing freedom. The Croatian founder has since secured investor backing, including private-equity partners, to buy out Porsche’s share and simplify ownership.
Nevertheless, even if Porsche sells, it will still retain influence through its own 20% stake in the Rimac Group, a position confirmed in Porsche’s 2022 investor statements.
For Porsche, a sale could make strategic sense. The German brand faces softening electric vehicle demand, new tariffs, and steep competition from Chinese EVs entering the market at a lower price. Earlier this year, CEO Oliver Blume already told staff that Porsche’s long-proven business model “no longer works in its current form,” signalling that asset reviews are underway.
Currently, Rimac’s reputation is already growing far beyond Europe’s shores. In South Africa, Rimac’s flagship hypercar, the Nevera, has already built cult-status buzz among luxury-EV enthusiasts.
Collectors in Johannesburg and Cape Town have reportedly explored vehicle allocations, providing further proof of the brand’s influence as it breaks into the world’s auto market.
For Rimac, full ownership would take off the joint-venture red tape and let him steer both Bugatti’s next-generation lineup and Rimac Automobili’s electric-performance strategy under one vision. Since launching the Nevera in 2022 and producing some of the world’s fastest electric vehicles, Rimac has grown from a garage startup in Croatia into a key name in high-performance mobility.
If this buyout goes through, Mate won’t just be marking a corporate milestone, as it will give him the power and stage he’s been building toward. The kind that separates the true builders from the talkers—the CEOs who promise revolutions but deliver delays.
It might be the start of a bold engineering phase, which, when unrestrained, can still re-establish the future of the Bugatti brand in the automobile world.
