樂視的一場(chǎng)空夢(mèng)

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(guó)初次登場(chǎng)被稱為“科技與消費(fèi)文化領(lǐng)域的歷史性時(shí)刻”，可與iPhone制造商或谷歌(Google)上市當(dāng)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(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官賈躍亭在舊金山產(chǎn)品發(fā)布會(huì)上的豪言壯語(yǔ)才配得上，他表示：“在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)內(nèi)容領(lǐng)域，我們也進(jìn)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，樂視并沒有開辟出什么新道路，實(shí)際上其天花亂墜的宣傳與現(xiàn)實(shí)相去甚遠(yuǎn)。樂視在美國(guó)的冒險(xiǎn)只留下一連串被取消的交易、不滿的員工，以及內(nèi)華達(dá)沙漠里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(duì)樂視的戰(zhàn)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(jià)銷售電視和手機(jī)以及開發(fā)“超級(jí)自行車”、電動(dòng)汽車和虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)耳機(jī)等手段征服美國(guó)消費(fèi)電子市場(chǎng)。

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(guó)一些由新晉富豪創(chuàng)辦的公司行事高調(diào)，創(chuàng)始人滿口豪言壯語(yǔ)、胸懷大志，但當(dāng)公司進(jìn)軍海外時(shí)，卻只能眼看著美夢(mèng)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(dòng)汽車公司“法拉第未來”(Faraday Future)在內(nèi)華達(dá)建工廠就是要生產(chǎn)電動(dòng)汽車。但上月，工廠才建了一半，該公司就解雇了325名員工(占其美國(guó)員工的多數(shù))，并將這一決定歸咎于融資困難。

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(gè)月前才進(jìn)軍美國(guó)，起初是要銷售智能手機(jī)和其他硬件設(shè)備，這是其成為跨國(guó)公司大計(jì)的一部分。在那之前，樂視的業(yè)務(wù)大多在中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)。在深圳上市的樂視網(wǎng)信息技術(shù)有限公司(Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp)提供一系列互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)，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(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)，樂視的億萬(wàn)富翁創(chuàng)始人不得不為他這個(gè)日益多元化的科技帝國(guó)努力尋找新資金。兩周前，賈躍亭表示，他將卸任樂視網(wǎng)首席執(zhí)行官一職，但將繼續(xù)擔(dān)任樂視網(wǎng)和未上市母公司樂視的董事長(zhǎng)。樂視網(wǎng)財(cái)務(wù)總監(jiān)也因“個(gè)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(jīng)歷看來可能演變成一出因野心大過自身實(shí)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在中文里的意思是“快樂的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)”。目前，樂視背負(fù)著將近190億元人民幣(合27億美元)的債務(wù)。

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(guó)發(fā)布會(huì)那時(shí)開始，樂視的計(jì)劃就開始受挫，當(dāng)時(shí)由于原型車在運(yùn)送途中發(fā)生車禍，樂視不得不在最后一刻放棄展示其自動(dòng)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(guó)的“法拉第未來”就是一個(gè)鬼廠。樂視去年6月以2.5億美元在硅谷收購(gòu)的原雅虎(Yahoo)園區(qū)，如今掛牌出售。樂視還放棄了以20億美元價(jià)格收購(gòu)美國(guó)電視制造商Vizio的計(jì)劃，原因是“監(jiān)管阻力”。上月，樂視體育(LeSports)取消了歐洲冠軍聯(lián)賽(European Champions League)一場(chǎng)足球比賽的視頻直播，這令外界擔(dān)憂其是否因未付清賬單而被切斷轉(zhuǎn)播，不過該公司否認(rèn)事情與債務(wù)有關(guān)。去年，樂視曾延遲支付英超聯(lián)賽(English Premier League)在華轉(zhuǎn)播的費(fèi)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(yè)(Le Vision Pictures)也正步履維艱。樂視影業(yè)是樂視以14.1億美元全盤收購(gòu)的，當(dāng)時(shí)這個(gè)收購(gòu)價(jià)是資產(chǎn)凈值的4倍，當(dāng)時(shí)樂視已持有部分股權(quán)。樂視影業(yè)投資了馬特•達(dá)蒙(Matt Damon)主演的動(dòng)作大片《長(zhǎng)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(quán)堵住樂視網(wǎng)的債務(wù)缺口，樂視網(wǎng)被稱為中國(guó)的Netflix。他將其在樂視網(wǎng)的25.67%股權(quán)幾乎全部質(zhì)押給銀行;他的哥哥賈躍民也將大部分股票質(zhì)押，賈躍亭全資所有的關(guān)聯(lián)方公司樂視控股(Leshi Holdings)也被整體質(zhì)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(tuán)的現(xiàn)金流仍存在問題，在內(nèi)華達(dá)的裁員和未完工的電動(dòng)汽車工廠就是例證。去年，樂視網(wǎng)營(yíng)收219億元人民幣，營(yíng)業(yè)虧損3.37億元人民幣。樂視網(wǎng)的估值在2015年5月達(dá)到最高點(diǎn)，為221.5億美元。如今，其估值僅為當(dāng)時(shí)的三分之一多一點(diǎn)，其股票的往季市盈率高達(dá)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(shù)量眾多的公司，資金在各公司之間轉(zhuǎn)移。”他補(bǔ)充稱，并非所有公司都會(huì)按時(shí)付款。整個(gè)樂視帝國(guó)以未上市的樂視控股為首，設(shè)在中國(guó)內(nèi)地的由樂視控股至少持有51%股權(quán)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(rèn)資本結(jié)構(gòu)存在問題。“我們蒙眼狂奔、燒錢追求規(guī)模擴(kuò)張，”他曾在去年11月直言，“我們的資本結(jié)構(gòu)不合理，外部融資規(guī)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(jù)《福布斯》(Forbes)排行榜，賈躍亭資產(chǎn)凈值35億美元。他最初在一成不變的省稅務(wù)局工作，后來到北京創(chuàng)業(yè)致富。2015年，他在視頻流和電影平臺(tái)以外增加了體育和汽車業(yè)務(wù)。

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(mèng)想。樂視影業(yè)在北京的一位前員工說：“樂視只是對(duì)一些基本概念進(jìn)行了包裝，然后大力的促銷和推廣，但實(shí)際上，根本沒有創(chuàng)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(lǐng)域的做法時(shí)，一位同行提到他見過賈躍亭以高價(jià)簽下的內(nèi)容協(xié)議。“兩年前他們吹起了這個(gè)泡沫。我說：‘如果他們兌現(xiàn)(內(nèi)容授權(quán)協(xié)議中的)所有承諾，他們會(huì)破產(chǎn)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(zhǎng)募集資金，他向投資者推介時(shí)極富感染力，因此被許多人稱為“PPT CEO”，即“PowerPoint首席執(zhí)行官”。去年12月，經(jīng)過一場(chǎng)馬拉松式會(huì)談，他說服中國(guó)房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)商融創(chuàng)(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(chuàng)董事長(zhǎng)孫宏斌事后向記者表示：“我第一次跟老賈談了六七個(gè)小時(shí)，談完以后，就約柳總，跟柳總也做了一個(gè)匯報(bào)。第一次我就特別有投資沖動(dòng)，我從來沒有這樣過。因?yàn)槔腺Z的戰(zhàn)略思路特別清楚，他的邏輯都是對(duì)的，打法也是對(duì)的。比如做汽車，先從最高端的做，然后再往下做。”

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(nèi)華達(dá)州財(cái)長(zhǎng)丹•施瓦茨(Dan Schwartz)在內(nèi)的許多人可能不同意這種看法。根據(jù)施瓦茨的說法，由于缺乏資金，原計(jì)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(shù)千萬(wàn)美元”。樂視否認(rèn)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(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》表示：“法拉第未來所在的廠址毫無動(dòng)靜。對(duì)于內(nèi)華達(dá)州政府來說，我們實(shí)際上支持的是一記‘三不沾’投球，這十分令人尷尬。那里什么都沒有。”內(nèi)華達(dá)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(lì)，其時(shí)間跨度依公司業(yè)績(jī)和在當(dāng)?shù)卣泄で闆r執(zhí)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(dú)立研究咨詢公司Radio Free Mobile的理查德•溫莎(Richard Windsor)認(rèn)為，要在該領(lǐng)域取得成功的幾率很小。“正如蘋果所發(fā)現(xiàn)的，造車是相當(dāng)困難的。因此，我看不出樂視為何要做這件事。”

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，問題在于融創(chuàng)的支票對(duì)樂視的財(cái)務(wù)狀況能有多大支撐作用。溫莎表示：“問題不在于他們沒有錢，而在于他們沒法把錢轉(zhuǎn)移出中國(guó)。”他這話是指中國(guó)旨在阻止資金外逃并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，隨著收購(gòu)Vizio交易取消、以及雅虎硅谷舊地掛牌出售，原本會(huì)為這兩宗交易提供資金的來自融創(chuàng)的24億美元，將幫助支撐樂視的資產(chǎn)負(fù)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(shí)是對(duì)賈躍亭美國(guó)抱負(fù)的一大打擊。溫莎表示：“以我對(duì)這位創(chuàng)始人的了解，依然只是一家中國(guó)公司會(huì)被認(rèn)為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.

到目前為止，賈躍亭似乎并未氣餒，盡管他那進(jìn)入所謂“千億美元俱樂部”、成為“中國(guó)最早突破千億美金營(yíng)收的公司或A股市場(chǎng)上最早突破千億美金市值的公司”的目標(biāo)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(guó)發(fā)布會(huì)上富有哲理的講話：“有人說，LeEco是中國(guó)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(chǎng)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于永不停歇地去探索未知世界嗎?”