Founder of China's embattled LeEco placed on debt blacklist (updated)

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13/12/2017 04:32

* CEO Jia Yueting placed on defaulter blacklist 
    * Luxury purchases, travel can be restricted 
    * LeEco facing broader issues with debt 
    * Empire stretches from online content to cars 
 
 (Changes sourcing, adds details on Jia) 
    By Engen Tham and Adam Jourdan 
    SHANGHAI, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The high-profile founder of 
struggling Chinese tech conglomerate LeEco has been placed on an 
official blacklist of debt defaulters, a further blow to a firm 
that had spent heavily to compete in areas from smart cars to 
online entertainment. 
    Jia Yueting had his name and ID number splashed on China's 
defaulter website after failing to satisfy a court order to pay 
Ping An Securities Group (Holdings) Ltd  0231.HK  more than 470 
million yuan ($71 million), according to a notice dated Dec. 11. 
    The move underscores the abrupt fall from grace of one of 
China's most prominent entrepreneurs, who created a tech empire 
ranging from a Netflix-like online content platform to a 
smart-car unit looking to rival electric car giant Telsa Inc 
 TSLA.O . 
    The latest twist - which follows court cases and Jia being 
ousted as chief executive of the main listed unit of the group 
he founded - is symbolic more than anything else of the firm's 
wider demise. 
    Being named on the list means a person can be restricted 
from frequenting luxury hotels, purchasing airline and 
high-speed train tickets, going to golf courses, sending their 
kids to expensive schools and even shopping online for luxury 
goods.      
    Representatives of LeEco and Jia were not immediately 
available to comment on the report. 
    The entertainment, electronics and electric vehicles group 
has struggled to pay its debts after rapid expansion led to a 
cash crunch, share price plunge and multiple defaults. 
    Jia expanded his business from its video-streaming roots 13 
years ago to include telephones, televisions and cars, and had 
even looked to push into the United States.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1JP3F1 At its 
peak LeEco owed creditors 10 billion yuan.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1IO1LH 
    Jia was still talking about his dream to "revolutionise the 
auto industry" via his start-up Faraday Future after he stepped 
down as CEO from listed Leshi Internet Information & Technology 
Corp Beijing  300104.SZ  in July.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1JX26E    
    The Supreme People's Court set up the debt defaulter website 
in 2013 to speed up compliance with verdicts and make court work 
more transparent. 
    Media reported in August that LeEco was in the midst of 
paying back an overdue loan and was discussing repayments of a 
larger loan with China Construction Bank Corp  601939.SS . 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1OC5M5 
    LeEco's troubles first came to light in 2016 when Jia said 
the firm had "big-company disease".  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1D83OU 
 
($1 = 6.6210 Chinese yuan renminbi) 
 
 (Reporting by Engen Tham and Adam Jourdan; Editing by Stephen 
Coates) 
 ((engen.tham@thomsonreuters.com; +86-21-6104-1769; Reuters 
Messaging: engen.tham.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: LEECO DEBT/