LeEco tried to build an empire of everything at once — and ran out of money

LeEco, founded by Jia Yueting, began as LeTV, a Chinese video-streaming service. But Jia had grander ambitions: he set out to build a sprawling 'ecosystem' that spanned video, smartphones, televisions, sports rights, and even electric cars through the US startup Faraday Future. LeEco expanded into all of these at once, spending aggressively and raising money to fund the blitz.

The over-expansion was unsustainable. By late 2016, LeEco ran out of cash. It had stretched itself across too many businesses at once, each burning money, and the funds to keep them all going dried up. Suppliers went unpaid, and the company's finances collapsed into a crisis of debt and unpaid bills.

In July 2017, Jia Yueting left China for the United States, where he focused on Faraday Future, and he did not return, becoming a symbol of the founder who fled his debts. LeEco, once valued highly and seen as China's answer to a tech conglomerate, collapsed. The case became a cautionary tale about the dangers of over-expansion and building an empire of everything at once without the cash to sustain it.