Jia Yueting wants to use live streaming to pay off debts? Only gained 14,000 followers in 8 days, FF has lost 29.3 billion in ten years

Jia Yueting, who wants to repay personal debts through live streaming sales, may face another setback.

Recently, Jia Yueting announced on his personal Weibo account that he is starting a new business venture by establishing a global IP commercialization company called "Chengzhang Ba Fengzhe" (Growth Fighters). This is another commercial brand founded by Jia Yueting after Faraday Future (referred to as "FF" below).

It is reported that Jia Yueting's new company is jointly established by more than 10 global partners, with Jia Yueting holding a 17% stake. The core business of Chengzhang Ba Fengzhe revolves around commercializing videos and live streaming e-commerce, commercializing related brand derivatives, knowledge empowerment, advertising and promotion, membership & subscriptions, short dramas, etc. The development goal is to help Chinese high-quality products and leading models expand into global overseas markets while supporting American businesses in introducing overseas high-quality products, leading brands, and well-known IPs into the Chinese market.

Why start a new company again? Jia Yueting explained that it is to help FF continue to raise funds for car manufacturing and repay personal domestic debts.

In this regard, Jia Yueting will donate 10% of the new company's shares to FF, making FF the largest shareholder of Chengzhang Ba Fengzhe. Half of all the personal income he receives from the new company will be invested in FF, and the other half will be used to continue repaying domestic debts. Jia Yueting also stated that the future income he personally invests in FF will also be mainly used to repay debts. He expressed that repaying debts and returning to China is something he must accomplish in the second half of his life, hoping that this move will help him repay the debts as soon as possible and return to China.

According to reports, the new company has already centered around Jia Yueting's IP and has been in talks with American celebrities to promote cooperation schemes, aiming to launch the first live streaming e-commerce commercial project as soon as possible. However, as of October 17th, 8 days have passed since Jia Yueting announced the establishment of the new company. Times Finance noted that the growth of Chengzhang Ba Fengzhe's account followers is not as satisfactory. Currently, the Weibo account has less than 400 followers, and the Douyin account has only about 14,000 followers.

Only 14,000 new followers in 8 days

The Douyin account of Chengzhang Ba Fengzhe shows that the company is named "Chengzhang Fengzhe Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd." Public information shows that the company was established on June 6, 2024, with its registered address in Haidian District, Beijing. The legal representative is Zhang Shenxin, and the registered capital is 10,000 RMB.

The IP locations of Chengzhang Ba Fengzhe's Douyin and Weibo accounts are both shown in the United States, indicating that its operating team is located in the United States. This is similar to the situation of FF. FF also established a Chinese company called "Fafa Auto (China) Co., Ltd.," with only 9 employees insured in 2023, indicating a small-scale enterprise. When Times Finance inquired about the progress of car manufacturing with FF China, the response was "the progress is all in the U.S., you can pay attention to the communication in the U.S.," indicating that FF's communication and operations are mostly handled by the U.S. team The new company targeting live e-commerce is currently not progressing well. In just 8 days, the Douyin account has only accumulated 14,000 fans, and the 199 items previously displayed in the account's storefront have been cleared. According to the Cover News, a top MCN agency employee stated that from the side, the account can already be considered a failure, and Jia Yueting's live streaming sales model is just a "shell", with little chance of success.

The biggest IP of Growth Fighter is Jia Yueting. Jia Yueting's personal accounts on Weibo and Douyin have over 15 million and over 1.6 million fans respectively, ranking second in the car-making field only after Xiaomi's Lei Jun.

Although the nearly 20 million fans give Jia Yueting a glimpse of monetization prospects, public trust is the primary consideration for monetizing through live e-commerce. This is undoubtedly a weak point for Jia Yueting. Tianyancha shows that Jia Yueting's current number of dishonest persons subject to enforcement is 3 times, with a historical total of 24 times. The historical total number of enforcement actions is as high as 70 times, with a cumulative total of 35.481 billion yuan. Jia Yueting, whose public trust is seriously overdrawn, may find it difficult to convince people to buy the products he recommends.

FF is currently facing the dual challenges of delivery difficulties and lack of funds, and the support provided by live streaming sales for car-making is likely to be very limited.

FF's Long-term Crisis Awaits Resolution

The financial report for the second quarter of 2024 shows that from April to June this year, FF's revenue was only $293,000, but the net loss was as high as $109 million. Since its establishment in 2014, FF has accumulated losses of $4.1154 billion (approximately 29.3 billion yuan), with only 13 new cars delivered so far, including 10 in 2023 and only 2 in the first half of 2024. In the first half of 2024, FF's net loss reached $157 million (approximately 1.12 billion yuan). Calculated, for each car delivered in the first half of the year, the loss is as high as $78.5 million (approximately 560 million yuan).

The main dilemma FF currently faces is a lack of funds. The financial report shows that as of the end of the second quarter, FF's total assets were approximately $458 million, total liabilities were approximately $309 million, and net assets were approximately $149 million. Cash used in operating activities decreased to only $29.1 million, with end-of-period cash flow of only $1.377 million.

If this situation continues, FF will be on the brink of collapse. In fact, on May 29th this year, when FF announced its annual financial report, it warned that the company may never be profitable. Although Jia Yueting refuted this claim in a video on May 31st, stating that he and FF do not acknowledge that the company can never be profitable and firmly believe that FF may become one of the companies to achieve profitability sooner. Jia Yueting also released a video stating that the direct cause of FF's crisis is a financial issue, while the fundamental reason is a matter of confidence and trust Since the beginning of this year, in addition to the long-standing financial issues, FF's biggest crisis is facing the risk of delisting. With the stock price below $0.1, FF has received multiple letters from Nasdaq advising on exiting the capital market.

In response, Jia Yueting has been working tirelessly this year to maintain FF's listing status, describing it as a "battle to defend the dream." As of October 17th, Eastern Time, FF (stock code: FFIE) has maintained a stock price above $2, with a total market value of approximately $28 million. However, the current market value of FF is still far from the closing market value of $4.511 billion on the day of its "backdoor listing" on July 22, 2021.

The main reason FF has been able to maintain its listing status is due to Jia Yueting's ability to tell stories while raising funds. On September 6th, FF announced that the company had successfully secured $30 million in financing commitments from the Middle East, the United States, and Asia. On the same day, Jia Yueting also posted on Weibo that Nasdaq had confirmed that FFIE had officially regained compliance, eliminating the delisting risk that had loomed this year and concluding the battle to defend the dream.

It is worth mentioning that after maintaining FF's listing status and securing financing, regulatory filing documents show that FF's founder Jia Yueting's annual salary has increased from $450,000 to $680,000, a raise of over 50%. He also received a one-time recognition bonus of $500,000, an annual discretionary target bonus of $816,000, and two annual stock awards worth over $4 million in total.

Looking ahead, FF still faces long-term challenges such as delivery difficulties, insufficient demand, and ongoing financial issues