LeEco founder yields control
Billionaire is taking step back so tech firm can overhaul its languishing operation
Billionaire Jia Yueting will relinquish the day-to-day running of his flagship streaming service, as cash-strapped parent LeEco considers an internal overhaul that will group businesses from entertainment to TVs under its main listed company.
The Chinese technology conglomerate’s founder announced he’s stepping down as general manager of Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp., a Netflix-like service and phone and TV-maker. Jia will remain chairman to devise longer-term
Jia Concedes LeEco is going through a rough patch but predicts problematic businesses such as ride-sharing unit Yidao will bottom out in a year or two
strategy and oversee a corporate revamp intended to improve transparency — an area in which Jia admitted LeEco’s been lacking.
The Internet giant has grappled with fundraising difficulties and unpaid bills in past months, a cash squeeze exacerbated by rapid expansion beyond online video and into costly arenas from sports broadcasting and electric cars to online finance. It’s now considering merging all privately held businesses into its Shenzhen-listed unit Leshi and carving out a separate automaking entity, Jia told reporters Sunday evening.
“In the future, we hope LeEco is only formed of two parts: the listed businesses and the auto unit,” according to a transcript of an interview with Jia provided by LeEco. Most of LeEco’s businesses are currently held privately by Jia and a number of investors.
LeEco, which employs several hundred workers at its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, announced in 2016 plans to create a huge office complex on a 50-acre site it purchased in Santa Clara. The proposed “EcoWorld” campus was envisioned to accommodate about 12,000 workers, but the project fell through as LeEco struggled with a serious cash crunch.
While conceding LeEco’s going through a rough patch, Jia predicted problematic businesses such as ride-sharing unit Yidao will bottom out in a year or two. That’s helped by recent layoffs, Jia said without going into specifics, as well as further fundraising.
LeEco’s car-making unit is about to begin a new round of fundraising that he said should be completed later this year. In the transcript, Leshi board secretary Zhao Kai said the company will decide on longer-term plans in accordance with the wishes of shareholders, and those may include initial public offerings for various businesses.
To tide LeEco over, a recently announced 13 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) investment from Sunac China Holdings Ltd. has been distributed between three LeEco businesses: Leshi, a filmmaking unit, and a subsidiary that makes smart TVs. To enhance financial transparency, Jia pledged to “massively” reduce the amount of connected transactions, or deals between individual LeEco units, from 2017.