Once regarded as “China’s No.1 Film and TV Entertainment Stock,” Huayi Brothers owned top celebrities from the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong—including Huang Xiaoming, Li Bingbing, Deng Chao, Zhou Xun, Ge You, Andy Lau, Feng Xiaogang, Ruby Lin, and others—spanning movies, television, music, fashion, artist management, and related entertainment industries. The company had a glorious heyday, but over the past seven years has sustained losses amounting to 8.2 billion yuan (about 4.75 billion ringgit).
Most recently, Huayi Brothers failed to pay an advertising fee of 11.4 million yuan (about 6.61 million ringgit), and as a result, was petitioned for bankruptcy restructuring by creditors. Despite Huayi Brothers’ keen investment acumen—serving as the main producer behind this year’s hottest drama "Pursuing Jade"—they have been unable to fill the bottomless pit of their losses. This once-mighty film empire, which was valued at nearly 90 billion yuan (about 52.2 billion ringgit), has now come to a lamentable end.
Huayi Brothers was founded in 1994 by brothers Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei, expanding rapidly in the film and TV world. In 2014, at its 20th anniversary celebration, more than half the celebrities in China’s entertainment industry attended—an unmatched show of star power. But that year, the company ambitiously tried to emulate Disney, expanding aggressively into IP licensing, live entertainment, online platforms, gaming, and other fields. In pursuit of more and higher value film and TV IP, the company tied itself to celebrity directors, overpaid for companies owned by stars, and signed massive performance-guarantee agreements—chasing high returns while blindly ignoring the risks. Ultimately, directors the company bet on, such as Feng Xiaogang, became entangled in controversies like Fan Bingbing’s shadow contracts and tax evasion, triggering the company’s downward spiral that has now culminated in bankruptcy.
Source: 壹苹