Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc (京東) yesterday said that its founder, Richard Liu (劉強東), has left his position as CEO, the latest Chinese billionaire founder to step aside amid Beijing’s increased scrutiny of the country’s technology industry.
Liu would hand over the reins to JD.com president Xu Lei (徐雷), the company said in a statement.
Liu would remain the chairman of the board and continue to focus on JD.com’s “long-term strategies, mentoring younger management and contributing to the revitalization of rural areas,” the statement said.
Photo: AP
Liu is the latest in a string of Chinese technology company founders who have stepped down from leadership positions in the past few years.
Last year, e-commerce firm Pinduoduo Inc (拼多多) founder Colin Huang (黃崢) resigned as chairman, and ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動) founder Zhang Yiming (張一鳴) also left his position as chairman of the firm.
The departures came as Beijing cracked down on the country’s previously freewheeling technology industry over antitrust concerns and fears that China’s technology giants were wielding too much influence over society.
JD.com’s stock price has plunged 27 percent over the past year.
Its New York-listed stock closed down 3 percent to US$59.07 on the NASDAQ ahead of yesterday’s announcement.
The company reported a net loss of 5.2 billion yuan (US$817 million) for the fourth quarter of last year, compared with a net income of 24.3 billion yuan in the previous year, even as revenue grew 23 percent.
E-commerce firms like JD.com and rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) have been experiencing economic headwinds and a slowdown in consumption, as well as increased competition from other players, including short-video companies such as Kuaishou Technology (快手) that have begun incorporating e-commerce functions into their platforms.
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