Shanghai court freezes stocks worth $2b of LeEco's founder

Jia Yueting, founder of Chinese internet company LeEco, saw 15.9 billion yuan ($2.34 billion） worth of his stocks frozen due to unpaid debt.

Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, the listed video-streaming unit of LeEco, said in a filing on Tuesday that a court has frozen Jia's 519 million shares, about 26 percent of Leshi's all stocks.

That equals to 15.9 billion yuan, given the market value of Leshi stands at 61.2 billion yuan.

That accounts for 99 percent of all shares Jia has in Leshi.

The account will remain frozen for three years. The Shanghai High People's Court announced the ruling because LeEco failed to pay interest due on bank loans taken out to fund its smartphone business. Jia used his shares in Leshi as collateral for the loans.

On Tuesday, LeEco confirmed that another 1.24 billion yuan ($183 million) in assets belonging to Jia, his wife and three affiliated companies have been frozen by the court because of unpaid debt.