--FILE--Jia Yueting, fondatore, Presidente e CEO di Leshi Information & Technology, meglio noto come Letv o LeEco, introduce le 2 smartphone alla una pres
--FILE--Jia Yueting, founder, Chairman and CEO of Leshi Information & Technology, better known as Letv or LeEco, introduces Le 2 smartphones at a press conference in Beijing, China, 20 April 2016. More than a dozen Chinese celebrities, including director Zhang Yimou, have invested in the movie production unit of LeEco, the once-high-flying Chinese technology group now suffering from a cash shortage. The star-studded list of investors in Le Vision Pictures testifies to the charm and influence of Jia Yueting, founder and chief executive of LeEco, who ranked as China's 31st richest man on a recent list. But Mr Jia's celebrity backers are at risk of losses as LeEco runs into financial distress. LeEco's Shenzhen-listed unit, Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, said this month that it had abandoned a plan to acquire Le Vision's unlisted assets in exchange for cash and stock. The deal would have allowed the celebrities a chance to cash out, but it fell through after Leshi's stock price dropped more than one-third since the start of 2016.
