Billionaire Jia Yueting (賈躍亭) is to relinquish the day-to-day running of his flagship streaming service, as cash-strapped parent Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp (LeEco, 樂視) considers an internal overhaul that would group businesses from entertainment to televisions under its main listed company.
The Chinese technology conglomerate’s founder announced he is stepping down as general manager of the Netflix-like service and telephone and TV-maker.
Jia is to remain chairman to devise longer-term strategies and oversee a corporate revamp intended to improve transparency — an area in which Jia admitted LeEco has been lacking.
The firm 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 is now considering merging all privately held businesses into its Shenzhen-listed unit Leshi and carving out a separate auto-making entity, Jia told reporters on Sunday.
“In the future, we hope LeEco is only formed of two parts: the listed businesses and the auto unit,” a transcript of an interview with Jia provided by LeEco said.
Most of LeEco’s businesses are held privately by Jia and a number of investors.
Jia added that problematic businesses such as ride-sharing unit Yidao Yongche (易到用車網) will bottom out in a year or two, helped by layoffs.
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 is to decide on longer-term plans in accordance with the wishes of shareholders, and those might include initial public offerings for various businesses.
To tide LeEco over, a 13 billion yuan (US$1.9 billion) investment from Sunac China Holdings Ltd (搜房網) has been distributed between three LeEco businesses: Leshi, a film-making unit and a subsidiary that makes smart TVs.
To enhance financial transparency, Jia pledged to “massively” reduce the amount of connected transactions, starting this year.
Jia did not spend much time expounding on LeEco’s US interests. The billionaire is a backer of electric vehicle maker Faraday Future, which is building a plant in Nevada that at one point was suspended.
Leshi’s shares have been suspended from trading since last month, pending detailed restructuring plans.
Jia’s retreat from management was accompanied by two other appointments: Liang Jun (梁軍), who joined the company from PC-maker Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) about five years ago, is to replace him as general manager, while former Leshi finance director Yang Lijie (楊麗杰) is to be replaced by Zhang Wei (張巍), the listed company said in a separate filing.
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