Celebrities take hit from LeEco woes

More than a dozen Chinese celebrities, including film director Zhang Yimou, may not be able to see high returns from their investment in affiliates of LeEco, becoming the latest victims of the Chinese tech major's cash crunch.

Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp, the listed company of LeEco, announced on Nov 8 that it may not be able to complete the acquisition of Le Vision Pictures in 2016, which conflicts with its earlier announcement in May that it will acquire 100 percent of Le Vision Pictures for up to 9.8 billion yuan ($1.42 billion).

The announcement comes as bad news for some of the highest paid stars as a media report said that as many as 19 celebrities, including Zhang Yimou and top Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming, invested more than 150 million yuan in LeEco affiliate Le Vision Pictures. Among those celebrity shareholders in the company's sports subsidiary Le Sports, top Chinese actress Liu Tao ranks as the top financial contributor with a 50-million-yuan investment.