LeEco founder and chief executive Jia Yueting must had a tough two weeks.
Last week, LeEco could not show its anticipated electric smart car for its U.S. debut because the truck carrying "the car of the future" got into an accident while driving to the press conference.
It was revealed this week that a construction firm working on a Nevada factory for Faraday Future, a smart car start-up backed by Jia Yueting, is threatening to stop working on the factory if unpaid bills are not made soon.
The news raise questions about Faraday’s financial condition, as well as the sustainability of LeEco's ultra-ambitious plans to disrupt industries from automotive to virtual reality.
An executive at AECOM, a construction company overseeing US$500 million of work on the roughly US$1 billion factory with three million square foot surface area, wrote in a letter to Faraday Future demanding payment of US$21 million, which was due in September, in ten days.
LeEco responded in a statement that the business relationship between Faraday Future and AECOM is strong, and the parties remain committed to building the factory of the future in North Las Vegas.
Faraday Future's plant in Nevada held a groundbreaking ceremony in April and started developing the site in July. Construction work currently includes large-scale grading of the 900-acre site, with work on the foundation and building expected to start after several months.
Last month, LeEco's electric car affiliate Le Supercar raised US$1.08 billion from Lenovo, Yingda Capital, a venture capital firm backed by State Grid, Shenzhen Municipality-backed Shenzhen Capital Group, China Minsheng Trust, Macrolink Group and Hongzhao Capital.