In a letter sent to employees this weekend, LeEco co-founder Jia Yueting wrote that the electronics and streaming company is running low on money and will stop focusing on expansion. In the letter, which was first obtained by China-based Global Times and later reported out by Bloomberg, Jia apologized for continuing to expand the company while its organizational structure was "lagging behind."
"We are starting to see signs of big company disease, such as low individual performance and organizational redundancies," Jia wrote. He continued to say the company plans to cut costs. He’ll slash his annual salary to 1 yuan, or 15 cents, and will move the company to a slower pace of growth. Jia chairs two other companies and still owns a significant stake in LeEco, so he's unlikely to go broke with his new LeEco salary.
This letter follows the company’s aggressive launch in the US this past month. At an event in San Francisco, LeEco introduced new phones, an Android-powered bike, TVs, a VR headset, and a video streaming service. Even earlier in the year, LeEco purchased California-based TV manufacturer Vizio for $2 billion. The Chinese company is also bankrolling car manufacturer Faraday Future, which plans to introduce a self-driving car at CES next year. It’s unclear how dire the company’s fiscal situation is and whether future product launches will be affected.