Chinese founder of EV maker Faraday Future completes personal bankruptcy

Jia Yueting, founder of Leshi Internet and electric vehicle (EV) maker Faraday Future, said on Thursday his personal bankruptcy process is complete and that a trust would be established to compensate Leshi shareholders.

The entrepreneur is well-known in China for building a video-streaming business into an electronics manufacturer, before starting Faraday Future with a stated ambition to overtake US electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc.

However, the cash-intensive enterprise left Jia filing for bankruptcy in October with personal net debt of around $2 billion. To date, Faraday Future has only produced a small amount of test models.

In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo, the former executive said the bankruptcy process ended on June 26, and apologised to investors and creditors for any financial loss.

Jia, currently "Chief Product and User-Eco Officer" of Faraday Future, also said fundraising for the EV maker "is going well". The automaker plans to "quickly complete its IPO programme soon," Jia said without elaborating.