“Misfortunes never come singly; troubles often come together.”
Li Jiaqi’s company Meione, a popular live-streaming influencer, is facing a major crisis on top of the recent “choose one out of two” controversy.
A recent criminal judgment document published on the official website of the Shanghai High People’s Court has sent shockwaves through the internet industry. According to the information disclosed, an associate at Meione’s brand subsidiary, Meiwrist (Shanghai) Network Technology Co., Ltd., used their position to accept over a million yuan in “kickbacks” from businesses and was sentenced to prison. This might be the first case this year in the internet industry where an employee has been sentenced for accepting “kickbacks.”
This news has caused a strong stir in the internet industry and dragged Meione further into controversy.
I
How much power do MCN agencies really have? How can an associate in business development receive over a million yuan in “kickbacks”?
This is a scenario one might expect in a TV drama, but it’s happening in real life. Last weekend, news related to Li Jiaqi’s company Meione went viral on social media, leaving many internet professionals, who were enjoying their weekend meals, in shock. They exclaimed, “Meione is in big trouble!” and “The MCN industry is too chaotic.”
When they clicked on the news, they found it indeed shocking. The Shanghai High People’s Court had taken action against an associate in business development, and this associate happened to work for Meione. Not long ago, Meione had just gone through a round of controversies.
See “Li Jiaqi Pulls Meione into the Whirlpool” for details. They were caught up in a “choose one out of two” dispute with e-commerce platforms and brand manufacturers. Initially, it appeared that the dispute was subsiding, and Meione even stated that “there is no ‘choose one out of two.'”
However, later, “Sina Technology” revealed a “contract agreement between Meione and brand manufacturers,” shifting the focus from “there is no ‘choose one out of two'” to Meione. Since then, this matter has been drawn out, turning the plot into a real-life version of the Japanese movie “Rashomon.” Nevertheless, Meione did not provide a detailed public explanation regarding the “contract agreement” and opted for the “Rashomon” approach.
The “Rashomon” story hasn’t ended, and a new episode has begun.
As usual, Meione responded to the matters it wanted to address. They referred to themselves as the “victimized entity,” and the implicated associate was labeled as a “former employee.” According to Meione, “The case began with relevant leads in 2022. After an internal investigation by the company’s supervision department, the case was officially reported to the public security authorities, and the progress of the case was closely monitored. After an investigation by the judicial authorities, it was determined that the associate, Zhou, was suspected of a crime and was taken into custody.” Meione stated, “We have zero tolerance for corrupt behavior in business activities,” and they terminated the employment contract with the associate involved.
So, where did this associate in business development get their authority? Were there other participants? How did they dare to accept over a million yuan in “kickbacks”?
Meione did not disclose many details about this matter. Is it related to the “choose one out of two” controversy? It’s unclear. However, as an MCN agency, Meione certainly bears responsibility for its mismanagement, which allowed an employee to become a corrupt element willing to accept over a million yuan in “kickbacks.”
This indirectly reflects the fact that the current MCN industry is indeed in disarray, and the root cause of this chaos is the surge in wealth.
II
During the Spring Festival, a live-streaming room for a chess card game gained popularity.
One influencer was playing cards while cheering, “I’m playing cards on Douyin with 2.36 million people watching, and I can earn enough in a year to buy a building in Shanghai.”
And this influencer’s MCN agency was an unknown small company. Many people may still remember “Crazy Little Yang Brother” from last year, who spent 103 million yuan to buy a building with over a billion Douyin followers.
Similarly, last year, “Kwai Fu” from “Tangshui Swallow’s Nest” made a big move. He founded “Xinchuang Real Estate Management Co., Ltd.” in Guangzhou, with a registered capital of 50 million yuan, engaged in real estate-related business.
Compared to the actions of “Crazy Little Yang Brother” buying a building for office use, Simba has directly entered the real estate business. We wonder if anyone would dare to buy the buildings he constructs.
However, when compared to top-tier MCN agencies, these actions are relatively small-scale. Although “Crazy Little Yang Brother” made waves in the MCN industry, he is still a “newcomer.” According to various rankings, there are three leading MCN agencies in the industry, namely Wuyou Media, Meione, and Suoxiang. They have harnessed the power of viral growth to cultivate influencers on major platforms.
Among these top three MCN agencies, Wuyou Media and Meione have a larger number of celebrity influencers. Wuyou Media has signed countless record-breaking sales figures, such as the “Guangdong Couple,” and the fitness enthusiast Liu Shenghong, who starred in a live broadcast of “Bencao Gangmu.” According to media reports, Wuyou Media has built an MCN empire with nearly 3,000 employees and over 100,000 signed influencers.
Meione is no less competitive, especially when it comes to the earning abilities of their most well-known “partner,” Li Jiaqi.
In the business world, describing someone as wealthy often involves using millions as the unit of measurement. Those who can be called billionaires use tens of billions, and super billionaires need hundreds of billions and appear on various authoritative rich lists. It’s hard to imagine that MCN has produced super billionaires.
In the first half of the year, “New Fortune” released the “2023 New Fortune Top 500 Rich List.” Prominent figures with wealth ranging from 10 billion to 20 billion yuan were included, such as Mao Wenchao, the founder of Xiaohongshu, Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, and Qizhenbo, the founder of Meione.
Qizhenbo had a wealth of 15.98 billion yuan, ranking 242nd, and Ren Zhengfei was 234th.
III
Leading the Chinese tech sector in a quest to break through “neck strangulation,” Ren Zhengfei, a tech industry leader, has a wealth of only 16.75 billion yuan.
Meione’s Qizhenbo, with a fortune approaching that of this “tech legend,” achieved this in less than a decade.
In fact, MCN agencies have gained popularity only in recent years.
Qizhenbo made it to various rich lists in just a few years. Just like e-commerce giants who benefited from the internet boom, it’s hard to believe that MCN can produce super billionaires.
E-commerce giants have built extensive supply chains and logistics systems, deeply integrating cutting-edge technologies such as smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence. However, MCN, relying on influencers, is a different story.
MCN agencies thrive on e-commerce platforms, social platforms, and short video platforms, amassing wealth and chaos. In April of this year, “Shandong Business Daily” reported a bankruptcy case of an MCN agency due to “Internet celebrity revealed that the MCN agency defrauded tens of millions of yuan.”
In July, “Southern Metropolis Daily” reported that MCN agencies used a new tactic to defraud people by enticing them to install apps, resulting in some individuals being swindled out of tens of thousands of yuan. This year, various media outlets have reported on the chaos in the MCN industry, primarily due to the sudden surge in wealth. Some people even believe that starting an MCN agency allows them to collect “IQ tax” from the internet and make money quickly because “there are always fools who will pay.”
The dream of easily amassing wealth has prompted some individuals to take risks in the MCN industry to make huge profits. Just like the apprehended associate in business development, who was once just a minor employee at Meione but became a sought-after “treasure” in the eyes of brand manufacturers.
Can a well-known internet influencer receive over a million yuan for a placement fee? Whether Li Jiaqi can do this is unclear, but his employee did. It indicates that top-tier MCN agencies hold unparalleled authority over brand manufacturers, capable of extracting a hefty fee with just a word.
When considering the situation where a JD.com employee claims “Li Jiaqi’s live-streaming room uses ‘choose one out of two’,” and brand manufacturers like Hai Shi are willing to accuse JD.com rather than the e-commerce giant, it seems there’s an answer. Do brand manufacturers dare to offend MCN agencies? They bend over backward even when dealing with minor employees.
It must be said that the emergence of the MCN industry and live-streamed product marketing has played a positive role in promoting mass consumption. In the past, the price of online purchases was determined by e-commerce platforms, but the introduction of live-streamed product marketing has reshaped the landscape, providing a new consumption experience for people.
However, the numerous issues stemming from the MCN industry itself, such as fraud, “choose one out of two,” and “kickbacks,” cannot be ignored. These are cancers that undermine the e-commerce ecosystem and are thorns on the backs of brand manufacturers and consumers. Ultimately, it damages the industry chain and consumer confidence. We hope that relevant authorities can quickly rectify the issues within the MCN industry, and we also hope that leading MCN agencies will set a good example.