Ying Cai’er once jokingly asked Gan Wei, “I didn’t expect him to be so rich. Did you just not expect him to become this rich?” When Li Xiaolu and Jia Nailiang had their child, Li Xiaolu insisted that Gan Wei be her daughter’s “caiseng mama,” meaning the first person outside the family the child would see. In the north, there is a saying that the child will inherit the good fortune of the “caiseng mama.” However, the life of this billionaire’s wife is not all sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. Gan Wei understands that no matter how young and beautiful you are, there will always be someone younger and more beautiful.
The once-famous self-media myth Mimon wrote an article titled “The Difficult Life of a Wealthy Wife,” which was based on Gan Wei. How credible is this? Although Mimon is only in the second layer of Gan Wei’s circle of friends, the information revealed in the article generally matches with Jia Yueting and Gan Wei. The article states that for wealthy wives, rivals in love are everywhere and hard to guard against, because there aren’t many wealthy men, and even fewer worth over ten billion. This wealthy wife, because her husband likes women who are fair and thin, never tans and applies sunscreen 24/7. At a height of 1.66 meters, she keeps her weight below 90 pounds by not eating anything after 3 PM.
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But these are minor issues compared to the need to always be ready to deal with rivals without flinching. For example, when the CEO’s company went public on the U.S. stock market, a new batch of beautiful girls joined in the latest round of expansion, including the CEO’s new assistant. The assistant started a pure love affair with the CEO. On the CEO’s birthday, the assistant made a cake by hand, which was very delicately crafted, showing how much effort she put into it. The wealthy wife met the assistant at the company’s annual party and casually said, “Thanks for the cake last time. Actually, many girls like to make cakes for my husband, but I like yours the best because you added my favorite strawberries.” The underlying message is that no matter how much effort you put into the cake, I was the one who ate it in the end. You’re not the only one eyeing my husband, and I don’t even care about you. These calm and casual remarks vividly illustrate the wealthy wife’s high emotional intelligence and strong composure.
But despite the outward prestige, the wealthy wife’s life is fraught with exhaustion and turmoil behind the scenes. She understands that if things continue this way, her powerful husband will still have 18-year-old girls flocking to him even when he’s 80. Therefore, Gan Wei decided that instead of relying on her husband, she would become a powerful figure herself. She chose to quit acting and become a producer instead. In 2015, she co-founded Beijing Le Yang Film and Media Company with Zhang Yimou, Guo Jingming, and others. Shortly after the company’s establishment, she became pregnant again. Despite this, Gan Wei did not stop working, and her first web drama, “Go Princess Go,” became a phenomenal hit with 2 billion views from a 20 million yuan investment. This success earned Gan Wei the title of the “Godmother of Web Dramas,” marking the first time she was recognized independently of her husband. She expressed her hope that one day people would refer to Jia Yueting as “Gan Wei’s husband” instead of her being known merely as “Mrs. Jia.”
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However, just as she was trying to carve out her own identity and distance herself from being “Mrs. Jia,” a supervisory letter from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange poured cold water on her efforts. The letter stated that Le Yang Film, controlled by Gan Wei, and LeTV’s subsidiary, Flower Film, had significant business overlaps, constituting unfair competition that required rectification. This meant that the actual controller of the listed company (LeTV) could not engage in businesses that competed with the listed company. Since Gan Wei, the actual controller of Le Yang Film, was Jia Yueting’s spouse, this relationship was seen as Jia Yueting himself controlling Le Yang, necessitating rectification.
The rectification options were threefold: they could divorce, Gan Wei could sell her shares in Le Yang to someone else, or LeTV could acquire Le Yang and make it a subsidiary. For Gan Wei, whose company had just received Series A funding with a valuation of 1.2 billion yuan, this was a devastating blow. Just as she was on the verge of becoming a president in her own right, an unexpected obstacle emerged. Divorce was out of the question, so ultimately, Gan Wei had to sell Le Yang to LeTV at half price. After all her efforts, she was still “Mrs. Jia.” She consoled herself, thinking at least they still had money. Little did she know that her life would soon take a drastic downturn, going from a billionaire’s wife with a 42 billion yuan fortune to a discredited debtor with a credit card limit of only 2,000 yuan.
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The year 2008 was a triumphant one for Jia Yueting. That year, he married Gan Wei, who was said to bring good fortune, and also received assistance from benefactors. During his early collaborations, Wang Cheng and Jia Yueting became very close friends, playing a crucial role in Jia’s skyrocketing career. At that time, starting a video website required overcoming three hurdles: licenses, funding, and industry resources. In 2004, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television issued three policies related to video licenses, strictly regulating video operations. However, LeTV was adept at navigating these challenges. It was not only among the first companies to obtain a license but also the only one nationwide to get a content operation license for mobile terminals. Moreover, from its founding to 2008, LeTV had not received any funding, and both its traffic and revenue were below the radar of mainstream video websites. It was the investment led by Wang Cheng in 2008 that gave LeTV the opportunity to soar. According to data from the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce, a company named Huijin Lifang Investment was established in August 2008 with a registered capital of 50 million yuan. The chairman was Wang Cheng. After its establishment, Huijin Lifang and several companies, led by Shenzhen Capital Group, invested 52.8 million yuan in LeTV. This investment brought hundreds of millions in returns to Huijin Lifang after LeTV went public, marking LeTV’s transformation into a publicly traded company on the A-shares market.
LeTV’s listing on the A-shares market was nothing short of a miracle. Listing on A-shares is challenging; besides the basic requirements of three years of continuous operation and stable management, the most critical factor is profitability. Companies must be profitable for the most recent two years, with cumulative profits exceeding a certain threshold. At that time, many internet startups were burning cash and far from meeting the A-share requirements. Yet, LeTV, a website ranked 168th in traffic, far behind Youku (10th) and Tudou (12th), managed to be profitable and easily met all listing criteria. Bao Fan, CEO of China Renaissance, directly questioned how a 17th-ranked video website could have the best financial indicators in the industry, asking if it was a magic trick. Whether there was financial fraud when LeTV went public is unclear, but it’s certain that its accounting treatment of copyright fees was controversial. Streaming platforms spend a large portion of their budget on purchasing content copyrights, usually amortized over several years. For instance, a copyright worth 1 million yuan might be amortized as 700,000 in the first year, 200,000 in the second, and 100,000 in the third. However, Jia’s accounting method spread this over ten years, with 10% amortized each year. This approach made the profit figures look very attractive. Regardless, LeTV experienced significant growth after going public, with first-year sales revenue increasing by 67% and profits by 60%. In the second year, both revenue and profit continued to grow by over 60%.
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In 2010, at the Kunlun Hotel, Jia Yueting met the 50-year-old Zhang Zhao, another benefactor in his life. Zhang Zhao was the founder and president of Enlight Media and a seasoned professional in the film industry. At that time, Enlight Media was preparing to go public, but to ensure profitability, the China Securities Regulatory Commission required Enlight Pictures to merge into Enlight Media for a bundled listing. Zhang Zhao hoped for Enlight Pictures to eventually list independently. Upon hearing this, Jia Yueting introduced his vision of an ecosystem integrating platform, content, terminal, and application, named the LeTV Ecosystem. What it lacked most was strong content, and Zhang Zhao hoped to create a Chinese Disney using the power of the internet. The two had a lengthy conversation and quickly decided to jointly establish an internet-based film company, LeVision Pictures. This concept was quite advanced for the time. Ten years later, Netflix became the most successful example of this model. Most importantly, Jia Yueting promised Zhang Zhao that LeVision Pictures would be able to list independently, which greatly appealed to Zhang Zhao. In March of the following year, LeVision Pictures was established, with Zhang Zhao as CEO. Zhang Zhao, known for his business acumen, quickly made a name for LeVision Pictures, making it one of the top five in the industry and achieving profitability. In August 2013, LeVision Pictures received a 200 million yuan A-round investment from Shenzhen Capital Group. The following September, it secured a 340 million yuan B-round investment.
Zhang Zhao produced a series of blockbuster films for LeVision Pictures, including Zhang Yimou’s “Coming Home,” “The Great Wall,” and “Shadow,” Guo Jingming’s “Tiny Times,” and the children’s animation “Boonie Bears.” The rapid growth of LeVision Pictures became a crucial source of continuous profits for the entire LeTV ecosystem. Even during the later collapse, LeVision Pictures provided several bailouts. If Gan Wei was the woman behind Jia Yueting, then Zhang Zhao was the man behind him, propelling Jia to his position as a billionaire mogul.
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In June 2012, Jia Yueting went to Taiwan to participate in a procurement group. During the evening banquet held at the World Trade Center, he saw a sought-after figure, which was Foxconn’s CEO, Terry Gou. Previously, LeTV had been in contact with Terry Gou for two years without any results. Through a referral, he finally obtained five minutes of conversation time with Terry Gou. Jia Yueting later recalled this conversation with Terry Gou to “The Bund” magazine, saying that, precisely speaking, it was not a matter of convincing each other, but an instant connection. What impressed Terry Gou was the four words, “LeTV ecosystem.” In the five minutes, Jia Yueting introduced the current status and future of the LeTV ecosystem. He emphasized LeTV’s leading position in content and importantly, he presented a possibility to Terry Gou. He mentioned that besides watching TV programs on television, viewers could also watch videos. This fresh concept was the future development direction Terry Gou had been seeking. Terry Gou said, “Don’t attend the banquet. Let’s discuss in the box at Taipei 101.” Seven days later, Terry Gou and Jia Yueting signed a cooperation framework agreement. Foxconn would produce LeTV televisions. In September of that year, major media outlets received an invitation from LeTV without any specific details. It was a simple invitation with three large black characters on a white background: “Upset Day,” alongside the date 919. LeTV would announce a major event, which would be a historically significant day for the entire internet industry. However, LeTV remained tight-lipped about the specifics of “Upset Day,” leaving the media eagerly anticipating the revelation. Finally, on the much-anticipated 919, the mystery was unveiled. Jia Yueting announced that he intended to revolutionize the television industry and would launch the LeTV Super TV.
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However, post the launch event, there were numerous speculations and mocking from the industry. It was unanimously believed that LeTV, without hardware experience, was attempting something beyond its capabilities. The capital market’s response was harsh, as it did not believe in empty concepts without tangible products. This move caused a decline in LeTV’s stock price. Over the following three months, the stock price dropped by 40%. Jia Yueting and the executive team had to personally invest to stabilize market confidence. Jia Yueting stated that when most people were pessimistic, that’s when something was worth doing, as only then could it be revolutionary. Therefore, on May 7, 2013, Jia Yueting stood at the Beijing Wukesong Arena in a black T-shirt and jeans and officially launched the long-anticipated Super TV. The former small-town youth, under the stage lights, appeared as another Steve Jobs. After the launch event, public opinion shifted, and LeTV’s stock hit the daily limit-up. Between May 7 and June 7, the stock price rose by over 20%. In June, the Super TV was officially available for pre-order. The sales were reported to be very positive, with many products selling out quickly, leaving many people complaining on social media about not being able to purchase one. In an internal memo to employees, Jia Yueting boldly claimed that the Super TV would surpass Samsung. Subsequently, traditional appliance manufacturers and internet companies began launching smart TVs. Almost all major players followed suit, introducing their own products or concepts, claiming to enter the internet TV sector. The era of large-screen internet had seemingly arrived! By the end of 2013, LeTV’s market value exceeded 14 billion yuan, and Jia Yueting became the richest entrepreneur on China’s Growth Enterprise Market. In 2014, the company purchased the LeTV Tower as its headquarters. In the second year after moving into the tower, the company’s market value surpassed 170 billion yuan, marking its most glorious moment in history.
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