Tencent co-founder brands LeEco a ‘Ponzi scheme’
The troubled internet conglomerate’s Shenzhen-listed arm, Leshi, extends a suspension of its shares by up to another three months
Embattled Chinese internet conglomerate LeEco has been branded a “Ponzi scheme” in an online comment made and endorsed by some of the country’s leading lights in technology.
The debt-ridden group of technology companies founded by billionaire Jia Yueting declined to comment on the scathing critique posted by Tencent Holdings co-founder Zeng Liqing, and “liked” by the company’s chairman Pony Ma Huateng, and Xu Xiaoping, one of mainland China’s foremost angel investors.
It [LeEco] is obviously a Ponzi scheme. You don’t belong in the investment market or entrepreneurial world if you can’t see that
“It [LeEco] is obviously a Ponzi scheme. You don’t belong in the investment market or entrepreneurial world if you can’t see that,” wrote Zeng, co-founder and advisor emeritus at Hong Kong-listed Tencent, one of the world's biggest internet companies.
Zeng's damning appraisal was made at the weekend in a post on WeChat, Tencent’s ubiquitous social media app. Ma and Xu later “liked” the post.
When contacted by the Post about Zeng’s remark, Chen Xuanyi, a spokesman for LeEco, said the company had “no comment” to make.
The latest blow to LeEco – once a high-flying technology empire with a bright future – comes as it battles to stay afloat amid a mountain of debt, huge losses and court orders freezing its assets.
That crisis has spilled into the company's Shenzhen-listed arm, Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp, which said on Tuesday its shares will remain suspended for up to another three months.