It took Jia Yueting just over six hours in December to snag $2.2 billion from a Chinese real estate mogul to keep LeEco afloat. In so doing, the entrepreneur secured a vital financial and strategic ally as he prepares to do battle with the likes of Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Tesla Inc. Jia’s LeEco, the sprawling conglomerate with interests ranging from electric cars and TVs to entertainment, announced Friday its cash crunch was almost over after winning 16.8 billion yuan in strategic investments, mostly from Sun Hongbin’s Sunac China Holdings Ltd. Jia declared he’ll now use the money to “far surpass” China’s three biggest internet companies: Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent.