樂視的一場空夢

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.

它本該是蘋果(Apple)、亞馬遜(Amazon)、Netflix、特斯拉(Tesla)和迪士尼(Disney)的集合體，去年10月，它在美國初次登場被稱爲“科技與消費文化領域的歷史性時刻”，可與iPhone製造商或谷歌(Google)上市當日相媲美。

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.

圍繞樂視(LeEco)的這種大吹大擂的宣傳，也只有其創始人兼首席執行官賈躍亭在舊金山產品發佈會上的豪言壯語才配得上，他表示：“在互聯網內容領域，我們也進行了全新的探索。”

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.

然而，樂視並沒有開闢出什麼新道路，實際上其天花亂墜的宣傳與現實相去甚遠。樂視在美國的冒險只留下一連串被取消的交易、不滿的員工，以及內華達沙漠裏一塊巨大但空空如也、本來要建汽車廠的工地。

Analysts have expressed grave doubts about its high spending on a sprawling strategy to conquer the US consumer electronics market by offering TVs and phones at discount prices and developing a “super bike”, electric cars and virtual reality headsets.

分析人士對樂視的戰略深表懷疑，他們覺得樂視把攤子鋪得太大且開銷巨大，意圖以廉價銷售電視和手機以及開發“超級自行車”、電動汽車和虛擬現實耳機等手段征服美國消費電子市場。

LeEco is one of a series of high-profile Chinese companies founded by a newly minted tycoon that burst on to the business scene with bombast and big ambitions but saw the dream fade when the company ventured overseas.

中國一些由新晉富豪創辦的公司行事高調，創始人滿口豪言壯語、胸懷大志，但當公司進軍海外時，卻只能眼看着美夢破碎。樂視就是這樣一家公司。

Faraday Future, the electric vehicle company backed by Mr Jia, was set up to make electric vehicles in Nevada. But last month, with the factory half-finished, it laid off 325 employees — most of its US workforce — and blamed difficulties in raising capital for the decision.

賈躍亭投資的電動汽車公司“法拉第未來”(Faraday Future)在內華達建工廠就是要生產電動汽車。但上月，工廠才建了一半，該公司就解僱了325名員工（佔其美國員工的多數），並將這一決定歸咎於融資困難。

LeEco went to the US just seven months ago as part of its design to be a global company, initially to sell smartphones and other hardware. Before that, its businesses were mostly domestic. Leshi Internet Information and Technology, the Shenzhen-listed unit, provides a range of internet services, including advertising and ecommerce.

樂視7個月前才進軍美國，起初是要銷售智能手機和其他硬件設備，這是其成爲跨國公司大計的一部分。在那之前，樂視的業務大多在中國國內。在深圳上市的樂視網信息技術有限公司(Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp)提供一系列互聯網服務，包括廣告和電商。

Back in China, the company’s billionaire founder has had to scramble to find additional financing for his increasingly disparate tech empire. Two weeks ago, Mr Jia said he would step down from the helm as chief executive of Leshi while remaining chair of both it and LeEco, the unlisted parent group. The chief financial officer also quit, citing “personal reasons”.

在中國國內，樂視的億萬富翁創始人不得不爲他這個日益多元化的科技帝國努力尋找新資金。兩週前，賈躍亭表示，他將卸任樂視網首席執行官一職，但將繼續擔任樂視網和未上市母公司樂視的董事長。樂視網財務總監也因“個人原因”辭職。

LeEco’s tale threatens to become one of vaulting ambition that overleaped itself — and possibly its funding. The company, whose name means “happy ecosystem” in Chinese, has run up almost Rmb19bn ($2.7bn) in debts.

樂視的經歷看來可能演變成一出因野心大過自身實力——或許也大過自身融資能力——而失敗的故事。該公司的英文名LeEco在中文裏的意思是“快樂的生態系統”。目前，樂視揹負着將近190億元人民幣(合27億美元)的債務。

Its plans began to unravel as early as its US launch event — the unveiling of its self-driving car had to be abandoned at the last minute when the prototype crashed on the way.

從召開美國發佈會那時開始，樂視的計劃就開始受挫，當時由於原型車在運送途中發生車禍，樂視不得不在最後一刻放棄展示其自動駕駛汽車。

Faraday Future, the US electric vehicle maker, is a ghost factory. The old Yahoo campus in Silicon Valley, bought by LeEco for $250m last June, has been put up for sale. LeEco gave up on its $2bn bid for US TV-maker Vizio, blaming “regulatory headwinds”. Last month, LeSports cancelled its live streaming in China of a European Champions League football match, sparking concerns over whether its broadcasting rights had been cut because of unpaid bills, although the company denied the interruption had anything to do with debts. Last year, it was late paying its bills for rights to broadcast English Premier League games in China.

在美國的“法拉第未來”就是一個鬼廠。樂視去年6月以2.5億美元在硅谷收購的原雅虎(Yahoo)園區，如今掛牌出售。樂視還放棄了以20億美元價格收購美國電視製造商Vizio的計劃，原因是“監管阻力”。上月，樂視體育(LeSports)取消了歐洲冠軍聯賽(European Champions League)一場足球比賽的視頻直播，這令外界擔憂其是否因未付清賬單而被切斷轉播，不過該公司否認事情與債務有關。去年，樂視曾延遲支付英超聯賽(English Premier League)在華轉播的費用。

LeEco’s movie arm, Le Vision Pictures, is also struggling. Bought out for $1.41bn, four times its net asset value at the time — it was already a partial owner — Le Vision backed the action blockbuster The Great Wall starring Matt Damon, which underwhelmed at the box office.

樂視影業(Le Vision Pictures)也正步履維艱。樂視影業是樂視以14.1億美元全盤收購的，當時這個收購價是資產淨值的4倍，當時樂視已持有部分股權。樂視影業投資了馬特?達蒙(Matt Damon)主演的動作大片《長城》(The Great Wall)，但票房不盡人意。

Mr Jia has resorted to using his own stock to plug debts at Leshi, popularly known as the Netflix of China. He has pledged to lenders as collateral almost his entire 25.67 per cent stake in Leshi; his older brother, Jia Yuemin, has similarly put up the bulk of his shares and affiliate Leshi Holdings, a related party company wholly owned by Jia Yueting, is also completely pledged.

賈躍亭希望用自己的股權堵住樂視網的債務缺口，樂視網被稱爲中國的Netflix。他將其在樂視網的25.67%股權幾乎全部質押給銀行；他的哥哥賈躍民也將大部分股票質押，賈躍亭全資所有的關聯方公司樂視控股(Leshi Holdings)也被整體質押。

But cash flow in the group remains a problem, as shown by the lay-offs and the unfinished electric vehicle factory in Nevada. Last year Leshi lost Rmb337m at the operating level, on revenues of Rmb21.9bn. At its peak in May 2015, Leshi was valued at $22.15bn. It is now worth little more than a third of that, and shares trade on a bubbly 106 times trailing earnings.

但集團的現金流仍存在問題，在內華達的裁員和未完工的電動汽車工廠就是例證。去年，樂視網營收219億元人民幣，營業虧損3.37億元人民幣。樂視網的估值在2015年5月達到最高點，爲221.5億美元。如今，其估值僅爲當時的三分之一多一點，其股票的往季市盈率高達106倍。

“LeEco is split into a massive number of companies and moves money between them,” says one lawyer, adding that not all pay their bills on time. The LeEco empire, headed by unlisted LeEco Holdings, counts at least 39 subsidiaries in mainland China that are at least 51 per cent-controlled by Leshi Holding.

一位律師表示：“樂視分成了數量衆多的公司，資金在各公司之間轉移。”他補充稱，並非所有公司都會按時付款。整個樂視帝國以未上市的樂視控股爲首，設在中國內地的由樂視控股至少持有51%股權的子公司最起碼有39家。

Mr Jia himself has acknowledged problems with the capital structure. “We’ve been blindly charging ahead, burning money to expand,” he wrote in a rare moment of candour last November. “Our capital structure is irrational, and the scale of external financing cannot meet the rapid amplification of our financial needs.”

賈躍亭承認資本結構存在問題。“我們矇眼狂奔、燒錢追求規模擴張，”他曾在去年11月直言，“我們的資本結構不合理，外部融資規模難以滿足快速放大的資金需求。”

Mr Jia, who is worth $3.5bn according to Forbes, began his career as a worker in a sleepy provincial tax bureau before heading to Beijing to make his fortune as an entrepreneur. By 2015, he had supplemented his video-streaming and movie platforms with a sporting and auto division.

根據《福布斯》(Forbes)排行榜，賈躍亭資產淨值35億美元。他最初在一成不變的省稅務局工作，後來到北京創業致富。2015年，他在視頻流和電影平臺以外增加了體育和汽車業務。

Not everyone bought into his dreams. An ex-employee of Le Vision Pictures in Beijing says: “LeEco only sugarcoats some basic concepts and then promotes and advertises itself heavily, but in essence, there’s no innovation at all.”

不是所有人都相信他的夢想。樂視影業在北京的一位前員工說：“樂視只是對一些基本概念進行了包裝，然後大力的促銷和推廣，但實際上，根本沒有創新。”

There are suggestions of profligacy as well. Describing Mr Jia’s modus operandi in streaming, one peer talks of coming across content deals signed up at hefty prices. “Two years ago, they created such a bubble. I said: ‘If they follow through on every commitment they’ve made [on content licensing], they would go bankrupt’.”

還有人說他過度燒錢。說起賈躍亭在流媒體領域的做法時，一位同行提到他見過賈躍亭以高價簽下的內容協議。“兩年前他們吹起了這個泡沫。我說：‘如果他們兌現（內容授權協議中的）所有承諾，他們會破產的’。”

Mr Jia has, however, proved adept at raising funds — so much so that he is known to many as “the PPT CEO”, or PowerPoint chief executive, for his rousing investor presentations. At one such marathon session in December, he convinced Chinese real estate developer Sunac to pony up $2.4bn in return for shares.

不過賈躍亭十分擅長募集資金，他向投資者推介時極富感染力，因此被許多人稱爲“PPT CEO”，即“PowerPoint首席執行官”。去年12月，經過一場馬拉松式會談，他說服中國房地產開發商融創(Sunac)出資24億美元換取樂視股份。

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Sunac chairman Sun Hongbin said: “After my conversation with Jia, I had the impetuous urge to invest because the important thing is [Mr Jia] has a good strategy and vision — especially his strategy in the auto industry.”

融創董事長孫宏斌事後向記者表示：“我第一次跟老賈談了六七個小時，談完以後，就約柳總，跟柳總也做了一個彙報。第一次我就特別有投資衝動，我從來沒有這樣過。因爲老賈的戰略思路特別清楚，他的邏輯都是對的，打法也是對的。比如做汽車，先從最高端的做，然後再往下做。”

Many, including Nevada’s state treasurer Dan Schwartz, would demur. According to Mr Schwartz, lack of funds halted construction of the $1bn car plant in November. Faraday Future, the US car start-up backed by LeEco, owed “tens of millions of dollars” in missed payments to its contractor, he added. LeEco has denied both statements.

包括內華達州財長丹?施瓦茨(Dan Schwartz)在內的許多人可能不同意這種看法。根據施瓦茨的說法，由於缺乏資金，原計劃投資10億美元建造的汽車廠在去年11月就停工了。他還表示，法拉第未來拖欠了承包商“數千萬美元”。樂視否認了上述兩種說法。

“Nothing has happened at the Faraday Future site,” Mr Schwartz told the FT. “It’s embarrassing for the state of Nevada that we effectively backed an airball. There is nothing there.” Nevada granted Faraday Future $200m in promised tax incentives for locating its plant there, spread over 15 to 20 years, depending on performance and local hiring conditions.

施瓦茨向英國《金融時報》表示：“法拉第未來所在的廠址毫無動靜。對於內華達州政府來說，我們實際上支持的是一記‘三不沾’投球，這十分令人尷尬。那裏什麼都沒有。”內華達州因法拉第未來將工廠建在該州而承諾向其提供2億美元稅收激勵，其時間跨度依公司業績和在當地招工情況執行15至20年。

Richard Windsor of independent research consultancy Radio Free Mobile sees little chance of success in the field. “Building cars is quite difficult as Apple has found out, so I don’t see why LeEco should do [it].”

獨立研究諮詢公司Radio Free Mobile的理查德?溫莎(Richard Windsor)認爲，要在該領域取得成功的機率很小。“正如蘋果所發現的，造車是相當困難的。因此，我看不出樂視爲何要做這件事。”

The question now is to what extent LeEco’s finances can be bolstered by Sunac’s cheque. “The problem is not that they have not got the money, it’s that they cannot get it out of China,” says Mr Windsor — a reference to China’s capital controls designed to halt capital flight and bolster the renminbi.

如今，問題在於融創的支票對樂視的財務狀況能有多大支撐作用。溫莎表示：“問題不在於他們沒有錢，而在於他們沒法把錢轉移出中國。”他這話是指中國旨在阻止資金外逃並支撐人民幣匯率的資本管控措施。

With the Vizio deal scrapped and Yahoo’s old Silicon Valley site headquarters up for sale, Sunac’s $2.4bn — which otherwise could have bankrolled the two deals — will instead help support the balance sheet, he says.

他說，隨着收購Vizio交易取消、以及雅虎硅谷舊地掛牌出售，原本會爲這兩宗交易提供資金的來自融創的24億美元，將幫助支撐樂視的資產負債表。

Axing the two deals does, however, deal a blow to Mr Jia’s US ambitions. “And from what I know of the founder, that would be taken as a very bad thing — to remain as a Chinese company,” says Mr Windsor.

然而，砍掉這兩宗交易確實是對賈躍亭美國抱負的一大打擊。溫莎表示：“以我對這位創始人的瞭解，依然只是一家中國公司會被認爲是一件非常糟糕的事。”

So far, Mr Jia seems undeterred, even if his goal of entering what he calls the “$100bn club” and becoming “the first Chinese company and the first A-share company to break through US$100bn in operating income” is still a distant prospect.

到目前爲止，賈躍亭似乎並未氣餒，儘管他那進入所謂“千億美元俱樂部”、成爲“中國最早突破千億美金營收的公司或A股市場上最早突破千億美金市值的公司”的目標仍遙遙無期。

As he said philosophically at the time of the US launch: “Some say that LeEco is the Chinese Netflix and some say that it is Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Tesla and Disney all together. Others say LeEco is crazy to come to the back yard of these companies to get their piece of the pie?.?.?.?The path is long and arduous — but isn’t the meaning of life perpetually trying to explore the unknowns of the world?”

正如他在美國發佈會上富有哲理的講話：“有人說，LeEco是中國的Netflix，也有人說，LeEco是蘋果＋特斯拉+三星＋亞馬遜＋奈飛＋迪斯尼等等，還有人說，今天LeEco居然要來到這些偉大公司的主場打擂，肯定是瘋了……前路漫漫，荊棘重重，但，生命的全部意義不就在於永不停歇地去探索未知世界嗎？”