It was supposed to be Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Tesla and Disney all rolled into one, and its US debut last October was billed as “a historical moment in tech and consumer culture” comparable to the day the iPhone maker or Google went public.
This breathless publicity surrounding China’s LeEco group was matched only by the ambitious claims of its founder and chief executive Jia Yueting at its San Francisco launch event: “We have blazed a new path in the internet content domain,” he said.
Far from blazing a path, however, LeEco’s hype diverged substantially from reality. Its American adventure has left a trail of cancelled deals, disgruntled employees and a vast and empty would-be car plant in the Nevada desert.