中國非議最多的企業(yè)家之一賈躍亭在特拉華州法庭申請按照《破產法》第11章破產重組，以便讓其擺脫36億美元的個人債務，并確保法拉第未來公司的繼續(xù)運轉。該公司是其在美國創(chuàng)建的一家電動汽車公司。

在申請文件中，賈躍亭通過向債權人信托轉讓其在法拉第未來的母公司Smart King Ltd的股權，為其債權人提供了獲取其洛杉磯法拉第未來公司多數(shù)股權的機會。作為交換，賈躍亭的約100位債權人——其中90%位于中國——將同意免去賈躍亭所欠的價值36億美元的債務。

然而，這一申請對于賈躍亭的債權人來說可能沒有足夠的吸引力，因為賈躍亭提醒其債權人，他們僅在公司上市之后才能獲得其資金。隨著投資者對中國電動汽車初創(chuàng)企業(yè)蔚來失去信心，去年虧損4.77億美元的法拉第順利開展IPO的可能性似乎并不高。

掌控全局

賈躍亭于2014年創(chuàng)建法拉第未來公司，但他與公司的關聯(lián)直到2015年才得以公布，當時美聯(lián)社在該公司致內華達立法人員的信中發(fā)現(xiàn)了賈躍亭的名字。那時，法拉第正在游說在沙漠之中建設汽車工廠事宜，并承諾投資10億美元，創(chuàng)建4500個工作崗位。

這家電動汽車初創(chuàng)企業(yè)被吹捧為特斯拉的競爭對手。隨后，這家由中國人持有的神秘公司開始從電動汽車競爭對手公司中挖人，宣布了大手筆的開支計劃，并十分應景地發(fā)布了未來感十足的概念車（很快被人們比作“蝙蝠車”），它很快成為了媒體競相追逐的對象。然而到目前為止，法拉第連自身所宣揚的愿景都還沒有實現(xiàn)。

2017年，也就是項目破土一年后，法拉第拋棄了10億美元的內華達工廠計劃，然后賣掉了那塊地。多名高管在公司遇到財務困境數(shù)月之前離開了公司。法拉第首發(fā)車型（比“蝙蝠車”這款概念車更接地氣）的生產比原計劃晚了一年多。

盡管一直以來舉步維艱，但法拉第在2018年年初從中國地產商恒大集團那里拿到了8億美元的投資，但其當年年底的賬面虧損依然高達4.77億美元。法拉第在今年1至7月進一步虧損了1.03億美元，將其創(chuàng)建以來的總虧損額推升至21.5億美元。

下沉式的職業(yè)生涯

賈躍亭曾在中國富豪榜上排名第17，其通往破產的蜿蜒之路始于2016年。當時，這位企業(yè)家將其成功的數(shù)字訂閱服務樂視（又被稱為中國的“Netflix”）重組成了一團錯綜復雜的業(yè)務部門。

在頂峰時期，樂視龐大的產品生態(tài)系統(tǒng)涵蓋電視和智能手機制造、音樂和電視流媒體服務，還有電影制作和汽車生產。這一系列業(yè)務均屬于一家名為樂視網的新母公司，其名稱意為“幸福的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)?！?/p>

然而，由于急于打造一個企業(yè)帝國，賈躍亭開始讓公司大舉負債，結果這位自以為是、被稱為中國喬布斯的企業(yè)家不得不于2017年屈駕擔任樂視網旗下上市公司樂視的首席執(zhí)行官。同一周，中國法院凍結了賈躍亭和樂視持有的1.75億美元資產，然后將賈躍亭納入失信人員黑名單。

很明顯，賈躍亭已經移居美國，而且對于中國股市監(jiān)管方當年要求其回國并償還債務的命令熟視無睹。這位跑路的企業(yè)家選擇待在加州，并開始接管法拉第，擔任其首席執(zhí)行官。

回歸中國

法拉第公司網站的聲明稱，賈躍亭的破產重組計劃將有助于“進一步推動法拉第美中雙本土市場策略的實施”。如果該計劃得到批準，賈躍亭將留在公司，擔任創(chuàng)始人及“首席產品和用戶官”。

值得注意的是，該計劃將清除賈躍亭在中國的債務，并有望為這位失信人員回歸中國擔任法拉第發(fā)言人鋪平道路。

四面楚歌的法拉第表示，公司仍將在明年9月發(fā)布其FF91車型，并希望其首款車型能夠同時獲得美國和中國市場的認可。

樂觀的卡斯騰·布雷特菲爾德對中國媒體說，法拉第希望在中國設立生產廠，生產該品牌的第二款車型FF81?？ㄋ跪v是寶馬前高管，亦是電動汽車競爭對手公司拜騰的創(chuàng)始人，他于9月接替賈躍亭擔任法拉第的首席執(zhí)行官。

中國會歡迎賈躍亭回歸嗎？（財富中文網）

譯者：馮豐

審校：夏林

One of China’s most beleaguered entrepreneurs, Jia Yueting, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a court in Delaware in a bid to clear himself of a $3.6 billion debt and to keep the wheels on Faraday Future, the electric car venture he founded in the U.S.

In the filing files, Jia offered his creditors the chance to take over his majority stake in the L.A.-based Faraday Future (FF) by transferring his equity in FF’s parent company, Smart King Ltd, to a creditor trust. In exchange, Jia’s 100 or so creditors—90% of which are in China—would agree to forgive the $3.6 billion worth of debt Jia owes.

However, that offer might not be so tempting to Jia’s hungry creditors as Jia warns his creditors will only recover their money if the company goes public. With investors souring on fellow Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startup Nio, the chances of Faraday Future—which recorded $477 million in losses last year—hosting a healthy IPO seem low.

In the driver’s seat

Jia Yueting founded Faraday Future in 2014 but his involvement with the company was only revealed in 2015 when the Associated Press found his name on a company letter sent to Nevada lawmakers. At the time, Faraday Future was lobbying to build a car factory in the desert, pledging to invest $1 billion and create 4,500 jobs.

The EV start-up, which was hyped as a rival to Tesla, quickly garnered media attention as the mysterious, Chinese-owned Faraday poached key players from rival EV firms, announced lavish spending plans and released a suitably futuristic concept car, which was soon likened to the Batmobile. The company has so far, however, failed to live up to its own hype.

In 2017 Faraday abandoned plans for a $1 billion Nevada factory, a year after breaking ground on the project, and has since sold the plot of land; a slew of top executives had abandoned the company months earlier as the company struggled with financing; and production of the company’s debut model—much more down to earth than the Batmobile concept car—is over a year behind schedule.

Despite its struggles, FF managed to attract an $800 million investment from Chinese real estate developer Evergrande at the start of 2018 but still ended the year with a loss of $477 million on its books. Faraday lost a further $103 million through to the end of July this year, bringing its total losses since inception to $2.15 billion.

A careening career

Once the 17th richest man in China, Jia’s winding road to bankruptcy arguably began in 2016 when the entrepreneur restructured his successful digital subscription service LeTV—dubbed “China’s Netflix”—into a tangled mess of business lines.

At its peak, LeTV’s sprawling ecosystem of products comprised TV and smartphone manufacturing, music and TV streaming, plus film production and auto making. The myriad business interests sat under a new parent company called LeEco, or “Happy Ecosystem.”

However, in his haste to develop a corporate empire, Jia plunged the company into debt, forcing the brash entrepreneur—once lauded as China’s Steve Jobs—to step down as CEO of LeEco’s listed unit, LeShi, in 2017. That same week, a Chinese court froze $175 million in assets held by Jia and LeShi and later placed Jia on a blacklist of debtors.

Jia, who had apparently already moved to the U.S., defied an order from China’s stock market regulator to return to China that year and pay off his debts. The runaway entrepreneur chose instead to stay in California and take over as CEO of Faraday Future.

Back to China

According to a statement on FF’s website, Jia’s restructuring scheme will help “further advance the implementation of FF’s US-China dual home market strategy.” If the plan is approved, Jia will stay on with the car company as founder and “Chief Product & User Officer”.

Significantly, the plan will clear Jia’s debts in China, potentially paving a way for the blacklisted debtor to return to the country as a spokesperson for the car company.

The embattled Faraday Future says it is still targeting the release of its FF91 model by September next year with hopes the brand’s inaugural car can take on both the U.S. and China markets.

An optimistic Carsten Breitfeld—the former BMW executive and co-founder of rival EV firm Byton who replaced Jia as CEO of Faraday in September—told Chinese media the group hopes to set up a production facility in China to produce the brand’s second model, the FF81.

Will China welcome Jia back?