Sea Group boss promises no ‘large-scale changes’ ahead

Photo credit: Sea Group

Sea Group hit a “turning point” with its recent promising quarterly results, but this shouldn’t be just “a momentary blip,” founder and CEO Forrest Li said in an internal memo to staff.

The tech giant surprised the market by reporting results for the fourth quarter of 2022 that upended the US$434 million loss on average expected by analysts.

All of Sea’s business units – digital entertainment platform Garena, ecommerce player Shopee, and fintech service Sea Money – reached positive adjusted EBITDA, the latter two for the first time.

While applauding employees for delivering Sea’s first profitable quarter since going public, Li also acknowledged how the company had to make hard decisions to get to this point.

“We need to prove – not just to our investors, but to ourselves – that we can remain profitable for the long haul,” Li said in the memo. “Taking major action early in this crisis – much earlier than most in our industry – was painful, but has put us in a stronger position today.”

See also: Sea Group’s triple win: how it pulled off a stunning reversal

In December 2022, Sea temporarily froze salary increases for staff and cut down on bonuses. Throughout 2022, it shed about 7,000 staff, over 10% of its overall workforce.

With the focus on “doing less, but doing it better,” Li said he plans to travel more to meet Sea employees across different offices and hold more frequent town halls to address their concerns.

Here’s Li’s note in full:

Forrest Li’s Note to Employees by TIA on Scribd