Produced by Radar Finance | Text by Meng Shuai | Edited by Shenhai

"Never give up, Never give in!" With this new slogan, serial entrepreneur Jia Yueting once again sets sail, unveiling the mystery of his latest venture. This time, under the name "Grow Up! Strivers," Jia aims to create a top-tier global IP commercialization company.

It is reported that Jia Yueting will donate 10% of the shares of his new company to Faraday Future (FF), making FF the largest shareholder, while Jia's shareholding will drop to 7%. Furthermore, Jia promises to split the profits from the new company in half: one half will be injected into Faraday Future, and the other half will be used to repay domestic debts.

As for how the new company will help Jia achieve this goal, "Grow Up! Strivers" has its own answer. Leveraging Jia's personal IP and the actively assembled global celebrity IP matrix, the company will establish a new model of content e-commerce and live streaming e-commerce in the United States to help Chinese products and brands go global, while also bridging the gap for American merchants to introduce their products, brands, and IPs into the Chinese market.

Specifically, the new company will leverage its commercial IP matrix, global platform empowerment, and high-quality global supply chain resources to deploy its business across various areas, including video and live streaming e-commerce commercialization, brand derivative development, knowledge empowerment, advertising promotion, membership and subscription services, and short dramas, thereby constructing a diversified business model.

In fact, one of the critical purposes behind Jia Yueting's establishment of "Grow Up! Strivers" is to support Faraday Future's vehicle production. However, Faraday Future's current situation remains far from optimistic. In April this year, plagued by negative news such as financial constraints, Faraday Future faced the risk of delisting from Nasdaq.

Although Jia subsequently saved the company from the brink of delisting, Faraday Future's road ahead is still fraught with challenges, far from reaching a state of tranquility. According to Faraday Future's latest financial report, the company's revenue for the first half of the year was only $295,000. In stark contrast, its net loss for the same period amounted to a staggering $157 million.

Even more astonishing is that despite Faraday Future's decade-long existence, its current delivery volume has yet to exceed 20 vehicles, indicating the severity of the challenges it faces. To turn the tide, Faraday Future plans to introduce more affordable models to secure a foothold in the broader mass market.

"Returning home after repaying debts is something I must accomplish in the latter half of my life," Jia Yueting declared amidst Faraday Future's struggles, as he embarked on this new IP commercialization venture. However, when and if Jia will indeed return home remains an open question.

Jia Yueting Tells a "New Story" with His Global IP Commercialization Company

Jia Yueting, across the ocean, is at it again! On October 9, Jia shared a Weibo post from an account named "Grow Up Strivers" on social media, accompanied by the caption, "Grow with the strivers, help them succeed together."

The poster of this Weibo post is none other than Jia Yueting's newly established company, "Grow Up! Strivers." According to the long Weibo post by "Grow Up! Strivers," the company, branded as "Grow Fandor," is a global IP commercialization venture formed by over a dozen "Strivers League" partners worldwide.

As early as May 7 this year, Jia Yueting publicly disclosed on social media several decisions he had made to save FF, mentioning that he would leverage his personal IP commercialization to earn money as quickly as possible, with part of the proceeds going towards debt repayment and the other towards supporting FF's operations, including vehicle production. A few days later, Jia even released a video titled "Grow Up! Strivers." Five months later, Jia's plan has made substantial progress.

Radar Finance has learned that "Grow Up! Strivers" has officially registered in both the United States and China and has initiated a global partner recruitment drive, including IP partners and supply chain partners. This marks the official launch and implementation phase of Jia Yueting's personal IP commercialization venture after months of preparation.

"Grow Up! Strivers" adopts a global partnership model, comprising a team of like-minded partners from both China and the United States. With ambitions to become the first global IP commercialization company listed on U.S. stock exchanges, the company aims to accelerate its strategic goals.

Currently, the company's core team comprises over a dozen elite talents from various industries, including the internet, marketing, sales, automobiles, and video, with over 20 years of experience. Jia Yueting serves not only as the founding partner and IP of "Grow Up! Strivers" but also as a core member of the "Strivers League" partner team.

According to "Grow Up! Strivers," to better support Faraday Future, Jia Yueting, as the company's founding partner, has decided to donate nearly 60% (i.e., 10%) of his 17% stake in the company to Faraday Future. Upon completion, Faraday Future will hold a 10% stake in the company, surpassing any individual partner's shareholding, while Jia's shareholding will drop to 7%.

FF's Global CEO Matthias Aydt expressed heartfelt gratitude for Jia Yueting's donation and support. He emphasized that FF is honored to receive the shares and looks forward to exploring cooperation opportunities with "Grow Up! Strivers" to leverage their respective strengths.

Regarding all proceeds (including labor, IP-related, and equity income) derived by Jia Yueting from the new company, "Grow Up! Strivers" revealed that half will be invested or loaned to Faraday Future, while the other half will be used to repay domestic debts. Additionally, future profits from investments in Faraday Future will also primarily be directed towards debt repayment.

Uncovering the Business Plan of "Grow Up! Strivers"

So, what business model will Jia Yueting's IP commercialization venture rely on to generate revenue and profits?

According to "Grow Up! Strivers," they plan to leverage the influence of Jia Yueting's globally renowned entrepreneurial and striving IP, along with the top-tier celebrity IP matrix they are recruiting, to establish an advanced content and live streaming e-commerce model in the United States, facilitating the international expansion of Chinese products and brands. Simultaneously, they will bridge the gap for American merchants to introduce high-quality products, leading brands, and renowned IPs into the Chinese market.

Specifically, "Grow Up! Strivers" will leverage its business IP matrix comprising entrepreneurs and celebrities, global platform empowerment, and premium global supply chain resources to deploy its business across video and live streaming e-commerce commercialization, brand derivative commercialization, knowledge empowerment, advertising and promotion, membership and subscription services, and short dramas.

Currently, centered around Jia Yueting's IP, "Grow Up! Strivers" is in talks with top American celebrities to advance cooperation schemes, aiming to swiftly launch its first live streaming e-commerce commercialization project. Meanwhile, the company is discussing partnerships with industry-leading supply chain enterprises, and several brands from automobiles, electronics, apparel, and other categories are advancing cooperation schemes with the company.

To better develop a world-class commercial IP matrix, "Grow Up! Strivers" has initiated a global partner recruitment drive, including IP partners and supply chain partners. The company hopes to attract top IPs with high recognition and global influence from the cultural, entertainment, sports, business, and technology sectors, as well as original IPs with unique content or brands and strong potential.

Radar Finance attempted to search for companies related to "Grow Up! Strivers" using Tianyancha but did not find any directly associated with Jia Yueting (e.g., holding a position or shares). However, a company named Chengzhang Fendouzhe Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. appears to be Jia Yueting's personal IP commercialization venture established in China.

According to Tianyancha, Chengzhang Fendouzhe Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. was established in June this year with a registered capital of RMB 10,000. Its business scope includes audio-visual production, food sales, internet information services, radio and television program production and operation, online culture operation, publication retail, and performance brokerage.

It is worth mentioning that a month before the establishment of this company, Chengzhang Fendouzhe Network Technology (Beijing) Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) was already incorporated, and both companies are legally represented by Zhang Shenxin. In terms of equity, Zhang Shenxin holds 99% and 90% of the shares in these two companies, respectively.

Furthermore, according to Chengzhang Fendouzhe Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.'s intellectual property information, the company has recently applied to register hundreds of trademarks, including "Chengzhangba Fendouzhe," "Chengzhangba Zhumengzhe," "Grow Dreamer," and "Grow Fandor," most of which are "awaiting substantive examination."

Additionally, when searching for "Grow Up! Strivers" on Douyin, Radar Finance found an account with the same name. The account's Douyin ID is "YTJia," an abbreviation of Jia Yueting's name, and its cover photo features Jia with his hands crossed over his chest. The account is verified to belong to Chengzhang Fendouzhe Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., mentioned earlier.

As of press time, the "Grow Up! Strivers" Douyin account had over 1,000 followers. According to NBD News, although the account had not yet published any content, its shopping window once featured 199 products, including tissues, clothing, shoes, cosmetics, and soy sauce. However, when Radar Finance checked the account on October 10 at around 11 a.m., the shopping window was empty.

Faraday Future, Beset by Challenges, Will Introduce Mass-Market Models; When Will Jia Yueting Return Home?

As the founder of Faraday Future, one of Jia Yueting's motivations for establishing "Grow Up! Strivers" is to support Faraday Future's sustainable development in vehicle production.

Since its inception in 2014, Faraday Future has weathered a decade of challenges. However, under Jia Yueting's leadership, the company has frequently faced rumors of financial constraints, personnel changes, salary cuts, and layoffs, even teetering on the brink of delisting multiple times.

In April this year, Nasdaq warned that Faraday Future's stock price had closed at or below $0.10 for ten consecutive trading days, prompting Nasdaq to decide to delist the company. Facing the delisting crisis, Jia Yueting repeatedly voiced his concerns on his personal Weibo, attempting to save the company, including mentioning that "all personal IP commercialization proceeds will be used to repay debts and support FF's vehicle production."

After Jia's public statements, Faraday Future's share price surged, increasing by over 40 times from May 10 to 20. On May 29, Jia Yueting released a video announcing that Nasdaq had approved Faraday Future's application to continue trading.

Although temporarily avoiding the delisting crisis, Faraday Future's challenges remain severe, as evidenced by its recent financial report. In the first half of the year, Faraday Future recorded revenue of only $295,000, while its operating costs for the same period amounted to $41.657 million.

Based on these figures, Faraday Future's gross profit for the first half of the year was -$41.362 million, and its net loss reached a staggering $157 million. As of June 30, the company's total assets were approximately $458 million, total liabilities were approximately $309 million, and net assets were approximately $149 million.

Behind Faraday Future's lackluster financial performance lies its meager delivery volume. The company began producing its first vehicle, the FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance, in March 2023 and delivered it to its first customer in August last year. The FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance retails for a whopping $309,000, equivalent to approximately RMB 2.2 million.

Jia Yueting has high hopes for Faraday Future's market performance, positioning it against traditional super luxury brands. "In the future, we believe our user personas should be similar in size and scale to brands like Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Bentley, and Maybach, which collectively sell around 55,000 vehicles annually," he said. Reuters also reported that Faraday Future optimistically predicted in November last year that it would produce around 1,000 vehicles in 2024.

However, Faraday Future's delivery record has been dismal since deliveries began. According to the company's previous annual report, as of December 31, 2023, it had sold only four vehicles and leased six more.

Compared to other manufacturers' monthly delivery reports in the tens of thousands, Faraday Future's performance is underwhelming. Recently, the company's product delivery promotions have even focused on individual customers. In June this year, Faraday Future delivered an FF 91 to individual investor He Juncheng, marking the resumption of the second phase of deliveries (SOD2) that began last year.

In August, Faraday Future's senior employee and Head of Global Communications and Community Sales, Gao Wei, became the new owner of an FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance. In September, Faraday Future delivered an FF 91 2.0 to Hollywood superstar agency Born Leaders.

To further expand its market presence, Faraday Future plans to introduce mass-market models. In September this year, the company announced the launch of its second brand, Faraday X.

Regarding Faraday X, Jia Yueting stated that the brand aims to become the "Toyota" of the smart electric vehicle market. Faraday Future's Global CEO Matthias Aydt added that the new brand aims to apply the technology from the $300,000 FF 91 to products priced at $30,000.

Faraday X's first phase will introduce two products offering "double the performance at half the price." The FX 5 is a large-space sports AIEV targeting the mainstream market, with an expected price range of $20,000 to $30,000. The FX 6 is a luxurious, extra-large family AI model, with an expected price range of $30,000 to $50,000. Both models will offer two powertrain options.

Jia Yueting revealed that the FX 5 is expected to roll off the production line by the end of 2025. Faraday Future appears confident in the sales potential of FX models, predicting that initial sales could reach tens of thousands of units, with the potential for hundreds of thousands later on.

When announcing the establishment of "Grow Up! Strivers," Jia Yueting also addressed the thorny issue of when he would return home. Jia candidly stated, "Returning home after repaying debts is something I must accomplish in the latter half of my life. All I can do is persevere, never give up, and keep moving forward." Jia also expressed his hope that the donation of his personal equity and proceeds would effectively support Faraday Future's vision, facilitating the timely repayment of his domestic debts and his eventual return home.

From the past 'let's work together to suffocate for our dreams' to today's 'grow up! Strivers', can Jia Yueting successfully repay his debts and return to China through the IP commercialization company he has built? Radar Finance will continue to pay attention.