IT took Jia Yueting just over six hours in December to snag US$2.2 billion from a real estate mogul to keep LeEco afloat. In so doing, Jia secured a vital financial and strategic ally as he prepares to do battle with the likes of Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Tesla Inc. Jia’s LeEco, the sprawling conglomerate with interests ranging from electric cars and TVs to entertainment, announced Friday its cash crunch was almost over after winning 16.8 billion yuan (US$2.43 billion) in strategic investments, mostly from Sun Hongbin’s Sunac China Holdings Ltd. Jia declared he’ll now use the money to “far surpass” China’s three biggest Internet companies: Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent. Jia said Sunday most of the money, around 10 billion yuan, will be paid to him in exchange for the shares he controls. The deal makes Sun and his company the second-largest shareholder in LeEco and ends a months-long quest for capital that quickened after Jia publicly admitted in November LeEco had expanded too quickly and was facing a squeeze. “With Sunac China, LeEco will no longer fight alone,” Jia told journalists in a five-star Beijing hotel ballroom Sunday. “This is the first time for LeEco to introduce or have a second major shareholder. So it’s a very important turning point.” Jia wouldn’t specify exactly what the money would go towards, apart from saying “most if not all” would bankroll non-listed businesses under the LeEco banner. That may encompass everything from Faraday Future, the secretive venture that’s trying to build a space-age super-car out in the Nevada Desert, to sports broadcaster LeSports. It would likely exclude listed LeShi Internet Information & Technology Corp., the video streaming and TV company Jia controls that’s sometimes referred to as China’s Netflix. Asked about reports of unpaid bills related to phone components and sports streaming licenses, Jia would only say the money is intended to solve LeEco’s problems. “The storm has finally ended,” Jia said. (SD-Agencies) | 