Former Samsung Execs Headed to China’s LeEco

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Two former Samsung executives in the U.S. are expected to join Chinese video streaming service and electronics manufacturer LeEco, previously known as LeTV, according to people familiar with the matter. Their hirings are part of a push by LeEco, sometimes called the Netflix of China, to establish a bigger presence in the U.S.

The two are Samsung’s former Chief Marketing Officer, Todd Pendleton, known for spearheading Samsung’s aggressive “Next Big Thing” marketing campaign. He reportedly left Samsung about a year ago. Also expected to join is a former Samsung human resources executive, Shawn Williams, the people said.

LeEco has run a video streaming service in China since 2004. Its strategy has been to marry video with its hardware devices like smartphones and connected television, using the exclusive content as a differentiating factor.

Amir Efrati is executive editor at The Information, which he helped to launch in 2013. Previously he spent nine years as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, reporting on white-collar crime and later about technology. He can be reached at [email protected] and is on X @amir

Tom Dotan joined the Information in 2014 covering the media, advertising and streaming video businesses. He is based in San Francisco and can be found on Twitter at @cityofthetown.