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LeEco / LeTV

Consumer electronics/mediaChina
New to Unitard
πŸ“‰ Public < $1B
PeakΒ $25 BillionRecorded estimate
~-99%
from peak
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    2015
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $25 Billion ’15
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    May 2017
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation estimate
    ~$250M
Current status
Delisted amid fraud; founder fled to US

The rise & fall

9 moments Β· 2004–2021

The key moments.

2004
Founded as LeTV
Jia Yueting starts one of China's first streaming-video companies.
Wikipedia
2015
The peak: a $25B ecosystem$25B
The 2015 A-share bubble lifts Leshi to a market value around $25B as Jia pitches an ever-expanding 'ecosystem.'
SCMP
2016
The sprawl: cars, phones, a $2B Vizio bid
LeEco unveils an electric-car project, pushes phones and TVs into the US, and agrees to buy Vizio for $2B β€” a deal that later falls apart.
Reuters
Nov 2016
Jia admits the cash crunch
In a company-wide letter, the founder concedes LeEco expanded too fast and is running short of cash.
Reuters
May 2017
Slips out of the club
The 2017 cash crisis engulfs Leshi; Jia gives up day-to-day control and the shares begin a long slide.
SCMP
2017
Jia decamps to the US
The founder stays in America to run his EV venture Faraday Future, despite regulators' orders to return.
SCMP
2020
Leshi delisted
After years of losses and unpayable debts, the stock is removed from the Shenzhen exchange.
Caixin
2021
Fines and a lifetime market ban
China's securities regulator fines Jia and Leshi over a decade of financial-reporting fraud and bans him from the markets for life.
Caixin

How it happened

LeEco, whose listed arm Leshi Internet reached a market value around $25B, sprawled from streaming video into phones, TVs, and electric cars under founder Jia Yueting. A cash crisis in 2017 exposed the overextension; China's securities regulator (CSRC) later fined Jia and Leshi and banned him from the markets for life over a decade of financial-reporting fraud. The stock was delisted and Jia fled to the United States.

Source: Caixin/SCMP; CSRC civil fine + lifetime market ban (2021)

Founder

  • Jia Yueting
    Founder & CEO (LeEco/LeTV)
    No public profile matched
πŸ¦„