Billionaire LeEco Founder Turns to Cars as Debtors Close In
- Jia Yueting will focus mainly on getting the FF91 to market
- The Chinese tycoon will step down from listed unit’s board
Billionaire LeEco Founder Jia Yueting Turns to Cars
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LeEco Chairman Jia Yueting asked for more time to repay debt and realize his ambitions of disrupting the automobile industry, days after a Chinese court froze billions of dollars in assets he controlled.
The increasingly beleaguered tycoon, who built his sprawling tech conglomerate on a Netflix-like streaming service and smart TVs, on Thursday resigned as chairman of his main listed company in favor of leading LeEco’s fledgling automobiles division. The move allows Jia to devote his time to cars and in particular to Faraday Future, the U.S.-based startup he personally backs that’s trying to raise funds to bring the FF91 electric car to fruition.