Recently, the Hong Kong High Court disclosed many details about Coolpad's illegal "blood transfusion" to LeEco, involving nearly 2.3 billion yuan.

The judgment shows that from June 2016 to March 2017, Coolpad transferred a total of approximately 2.275 billion yuan under the guise of procurement prepayments, loans, and advertising expenditures, which actually provided short-term financing to LeEco-affiliated companies.

Zhang Wei, the former executive director of Coolpad, was involved in this case and was sentenced to a 5-year disqualification order from being a director at the end of last year, and was ordered to compensate Coolpad 4 million Hong Kong dollars, along with bearing 750,000 Hong Kong dollars in litigation costs from the Securities and Futures Commission.

Looking back to 2015 and 2016, LeEco made a series of significant investments in Coolpad Group, thereby becoming Coolpad's single largest shareholder.

However, before Coolpad could seize the opportunity to rise again by relying on LeEco, it was met with the bad news of LeEco's collapse. Ultimately, LeEco withdrew completely, and Coolpad was unable to return to its former glory, subsequently falling into a slump.

By 2025, Coolpad, which once ranked among the "Chinese Cool Alliance" of mobile phone kings, recorded only 273 million Hong Kong dollars in revenue for the entire year and has incurred losses for six consecutive years since 2020. The company has even fallen to the point where half of its business relies on cryptocurrency and rental income for survival.

As of the close on April 23, Coolpad Group's latest stock price was 0.69 Hong Kong dollars per share, shrinking by over 99% from its peak, with a total market value of just over 200 million Hong Kong dollars.

Illegal transfer of nearly 2.3 billion to LeEco, Coolpad suffered a loss of 84 million

According to the Daily Economic News, on April 22, the Hong Kong High Court released detailed reasons for its ruling, disclosing the details of the illegal fund transfers.

The judgment shows that from June 2016 to March 2017, Coolpad Group and its related subsidiaries transferred approximately 2.275 billion yuan to LeEco-affiliated companies through five related transactions.

Of this, about 1.776 billion yuan ultimately flowed into accounts controlled by Jia Yueting, the former chairman of Coolpad's board, or LeEco-affiliated companies, with some funds returning after being circulated through multiple related parties to fill earlier funding gaps.

Specifically, from June to September 2016, Coolpad paid 170 million US dollars as a "deposit" to an intermediary company under the pretext of acquiring an American company, but most of the funds were transferred to Hong Kong LeEco-affiliated companies, although the acquisition never occurred, and some funds were only returned in March 2017 after being questioned by Ernst & Young accounting firm.

In August 2016, Coolpad's subsidiary Dongguan Yulong prepaid 300 million yuan to Beijing Duole Zhihui, controlled by Jia Yueting and Yu Enyuan, under the guise of purchasing mobile phone components, with the funds transferred to Beijing LeEco on the same day. The agreement was ultimately terminated, and no purchase orders were generated In December 2016, Dongguan Yulong signed a procurement framework agreement with another company controlled by Yu Enyuan, New Stone Technology Longma, and prepaid 300 million yuan. On the same day, New Stone Technology transferred the full amount to Beijing LeEco through an intermediary company. The agreement was terminated a month later, and the prepaid amount was returned in batches under pressure from Ernst & Young between February and March 2017.

In March 2017, another subsidiary of Coolpad, Shenzhen Yulong, provided 405 million yuan in short-term loans to six companies closely related to the LeEco system. After multiple transfers, the funds were used to repay debts from the first transaction, and the loans were subsequently repaid by Beijing LeEco and Chongqing LeEco Factoring.

In March 2017, Shenzhen Yulong prepaid 80 million yuan in advertising fees to Beijing Maiji, agreeing to release advertisements one year later. The funds were also used to repay debts from the first transaction. The advertising agreement was later canceled, and approximately 69.875 million yuan remains unrecovered to this day.

All these transactions were conducted without proper approval or disclosure to shareholders, ultimately leading to significant losses of approximately 84 million yuan for Coolpad.

Zhang Wei, who navigated between Coolpad and LeEco, directly participated in the approval or fund transfers of the last three transactions mentioned above.

It is reported that Zhang Wei has been responsible for financial management at Beijing LeEco since around July 2015 and has served as the Chief Financial Officer of LeEco since around May 2017.

At the same time, Zhang Wei served as the financial manager of Coolpad from December 2016 to March 2017 and as an executive director of Coolpad from March 2017 to January 2018.

Ultimately, Zhang Wei was banned from serving as a director, liquidator, receiver, or manager of any listed or unlisted corporation in Hong Kong for five years and is also prohibited from participating in the management of any listed or unlisted corporation in Hong Kong.

Additionally, Zhang Wei admitted responsibility and agreed to pay 4 million Hong Kong dollars as compensation for part of the company's losses and agreed to pay 750,000 Hong Kong dollars as the full amount of the legal fees he should bear for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission's lawsuit and the final settlement amount.

Furthermore, legal proceedings by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission against six former directors of Coolpad (namely Jia Yueting, Jiang Chao, Liu Jiangfeng, Liu Hong, Chen Jingzhong, and Xie Weixin) are currently ongoing.

"Success and failure both lie with the operators?"

The founder of Coolpad is the technical giant in the mobile communication industry, Guo Deying, who first developed and promoted the dual SIM dual standby technology that is now commonplace.

Public information shows that Guo Deying is from Nanyang, Henan Province, graduated from the Communication Engineering Department of Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology in 1985, and obtained a master's degree in Communication and Electronic Systems from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1988.

In 1993, Guo Deying left his long-term teaching position at Shenzhen University to start his own business, founding Yulong Computer Communication Technology Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of Coolpad).

At that time, mobile phones were still rare, and Guo Deying mainly operated communication products such as BP machines, encoders, paging station transmitters, and wireless fixed-line PDAs.

Inevitably, these businesses required cooperation with operators, laying the foundation for the company's later launch of mobile phone operations In 1999, after first encountering BlackBerry's email device in Canada, Guo Deying was determined to create "China's BlackBerry."

In 2003, leveraging early connections, Guo Deying partnered with China Unicom to jointly launch the first Coolpad phone. This phone, featuring a color resistive touchscreen, caused a sensation in the market upon its release.

Shortly after, Coolpad launched a mobile phone with its own intellectual property rights in 2004. A year later, the company developed the world's first dual-mode dual-standby phone.

According to Tianyancha, it was also at the end of 2004 that Coolpad successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, being referred to by investors as "China's future BlackBerry." After entering the capital market, Coolpad's growth momentum became even more rapid.

In 2007, Coolpad's revenue first surpassed HKD 1 billion, achieving a doubling growth compared to the previous year. By the end of 2013, Coolpad's market share in the smartphone market had climbed to the seventh highest in the world.

However, Coolpad's early sales channels were highly bound to operators, and it was grouped with ZTE, Huawei, and Lenovo, collectively known as "China Cool Alliance," as they all rode the operator channel fast track.

Relying on a continuous stream of B-end business, Coolpad's customized phone products once accounted for over 80% of its mobile phone shipments.

In July 2014, the three major operators were required to continuously reduce marketing expenses by 20% over three years, one direction of which included reducing subsidies for contract phones.

That year, Coolpad's historical highest revenue was recorded at HKD 24.9 billion. The following year, the company's revenue plummeted by more than 40%, dropping to HKD 14.668 billion.

Failing to Hold on to the Big Players, Became LeEco's "Cannon Fodder"

Unable to continue relying on the "big players" of operators, Coolpad's operations faced severe challenges. To address the liquidity crisis, Guo Deying decided to bring in external investors.

In December 2014, Qihoo 360 announced an investment of USD 409 million to establish a joint mobile phone company, QiKu, with Coolpad. In May of the following year, 360 further invested USD 45 million, increasing its stake in QiKu to 49.5%.

In June of the same year, LeEco invested CNY 2.18 billion to buy 18% of the shares from Guo Deying, becoming Coolpad's second-largest shareholder, which also meant that LeEco became an indirect shareholder of QiKu.

However, this move instantly angered 360 Chairman Zhou Hongyi, who angrily stated in his WeChat Moments: "Stabbed in the back by someone."

In September of the same year, this "love triangle" ultimately ended with 360 increasing its stake in QiKu from the original 49.5% to 75% as a settlement.

After that, Coolpad accelerated its alignment with LeEco, hoping to completely resolve the company's liquidity crisis and development issues by leveraging LeEco's then-thriving status.

In June 2016, LeEco spent HKD 1.047 billion to acquire an additional 11% stake in Coolpad, becoming Coolpad's largest shareholder.

After two transfers, Guo Deying cashed out over CNY 3 billion in total and resigned as chairman in August of the same year, with Jia Yueting officially taking control of Coolpad thereafter However, before Jia Yueting could settle in, LeEco was already in trouble. In November 2016, Jia Yueting proactively admitted that LeEco was facing a cash flow crisis. The Coolpad brand, which Jia Yueting had acquired with great fanfare, also became a casualty after LeEco's collapse.

In 2016, Coolpad's revenue fell below HKD 10 billion, plummeting 45.67% year-on-year to HKD 7.969 billion, with a net loss attributable to shareholders exceeding HKD 4.3 billion for the year, effectively wiping out all profits earned since the company's IPO in just one year.

In 2017, Coolpad recorded another loss of HKD 2.674 billion.

At the beginning of 2018, LeEco sold off Coolpad at a loss, completely withdrawing from the venture. That year, Coolpad's annual revenue was only HKD 1.277 billion, shrinking nearly 95% from its peak in 2014, and it recorded another loss of HKD 409 million.

After LeEco's exit, the Jingji capital took over Coolpad. In 2019, Chen Jiajun, the son of Jingji Group founder Chen Hua, was appointed as the chairman and CEO of Coolpad.

After Chen Jiajun took office, Coolpad attempted multiple fundraising efforts to regroup, but the company struggled to turn around and failed to achieve a comeback.

According to Tonghuashun iFinD, from 2020 to 2025, Coolpad was mired in losses for six consecutive years, with cumulative losses nearing HKD 2.2 billion.

Coolpad's latest annual report shows that in 2025, the company's revenue from mobile phones and related accessories and wireless application services totaled HKD 143 million, accounting for 52.49% of total revenue.

During the same period, Coolpad's revenue from cryptocurrency business and rental income from investment properties were HKD 67 million and HKD 63 million, respectively, accounting for 24.61% and 22.9% of the company's total revenue, supporting the company's other "half."

What kind of development awaits the similarly troubled Coolpad and LeEco in the future? Radar Finance will continue to monitor the situation