Singapore-based Sea Limited Chairman and CEO Forrest Li, speaks during an interview with CNBC following his company's IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., October 20, 2017.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG, Aug 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sea's (SE.N) boss Forrest Li has picked a turbulent time to rock the boat.
But Li's declaration on Tuesday that it's time to "ramp up" investments again risks wiping out the hard-earned investor goodwill.
Despite Li's assurances that Sea will keep emphasising self-sufficiency and cost efficiencies, investors promptly erased some $10 billion, or 29%, in market value.
In July, the latter injected $845 million into its Southeast Asian arm, signalling a price war may be on the horizon.
Persons:
Forrest Li, Brendan McDermid, HONG KONG, Li, China's Alibaba, Robyn Mak, Exor’s Philips, Bain, BoE, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum
Organizations:
CNBC, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Reuters, HK, Twitter, FC Barcelona’s, Messi, Thomson
Locations:
Singapore, New York, U.S, HONG, York