May 12, 2022—Ford on Tuesday officially sold 8 million shares of electric pickup producer Rivian automotive.

At $26.80 a share, Ford gained a total of $214 million from the sale according to a report from The Detroit News. Per a statement from Ford spokesman Ian Thibodeau, the 8 million shares comprised slightly less than 8 percent of the automaker's total investment in Rivian.

"We think it’s prudent at this point to monetize a small portion of the investment," Thibodeau said. 

Rivian exploded onto the EV scene last year and was dubbed by many in the industry as the company best-equipped to take on Tesla. The automaker just this month secured a $1.5 billion tax incentive package from the state of Georgia for its planned $5 billion production facility.

However, Rivian stock has plummeted significantly since last November, when it first became a publicly traded company. Ford's $26.80 per share return is down almost 80 percent from the $100.73 per share valuation Rivian reached on its first day of trading.