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Richard Liu, founder of the ecommerce giant JD.com, has been quietly steering the Beijing-based company from London, making him the latest Chinese tech founder to stay involved after stepping down as chief executive.
Liu has spent the past couple of years leading JD.com from overseas, primarily in London, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. His direct reports regularly travel from China for meetings with the billionaire, who also spends time in Dubai, Tokyo and Hong Kong, the people said.
They also said that Liu, who is the company’s chair, remained central in company management, making important decisions on matters including investment strategy and overseas expansion. He is also hunting for deals in the UK, having considered a bid for British electronics retailer Currys.
“He is still running the company,” said one of these people.
His continued stewardship of JD.com from outside China comes as the company engages in a brutal fight for market share with ecommerce rivals in the country, where it generates the bulk of its revenue.
It also highlights the succession challenges at Chinese tech companies with charismatic and high-profile founders, even after they have nominally handed over leadership.
Liu stepped down as chief in April 2022 at a time when several Chinese entrepreneurs were fleeing executive roles during Beijing’s tech crackdown. He was replaced by the then company president Xu Lei.
The leadership transition took place months before Liu reached a settlement with a former Minnesota university student who publicly accused the billionaire of rape in 2018, in a case that garnered huge press attention in China and overseas. He denied the allegations.
Just a year later, JD.com shook up its management team again after the freshly appointed chief Xu “retired” from the role citing “personal reasons”, according to a company statement.
Liu has retained the title of company chair, while current chief Sandy Xu and other JD.com executives remain in Beijing.
“Sandy is an enforcer, making sure things stay on budget,” said one person close to the company, while Liu continued to direct company strategy.
Chinese ecommerce companies have been increasingly looking overseas for growth as consumption slows in their home market. Liu and his wife, the fashion influencer Zhang Zetian, have a property located near a central London park. He has been scouting investment opportunities in the UK over the past few months.
JD.com, which specialises in electronics and home appliances, has been facing rising competition at home from discount rival PDD Holdings. Goldman Sachs analysts estimated that JD.com had been displaced by PDD last year as the second-largest ecommerce company in China, by gross merchandise revenue, after Alibaba.
JD.com said: “CEO Sandy Xu leads the management team and oversees our daily operations.”
It added: “Mr Liu, in his role as chairman, is focused on long-term strategy, and international growth is part of the company’s long-term strategy. It is, therefore, entirely appropriate that he and our leadership spend time in different markets outside of China, activating opportunities, building businesses and creating the right teams.”
The company’s most recent annual report wrote that “we rely on the expertise and experience of Mr Richard Qiangdong Liu, our chairman, and our executive officers”, without mentioning Xu by name.
It is not uncommon for Chinese tech founders to stay closely involved in their companies, even after their executive duties have officially ended.
ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is still playing an active role in the company after stepping down as chief in 2021. He moved to Singapore during the Covid-19 pandemic but remains involved in driving its long-term strategy, according to people familiar with the TikTok parent’s operations. ByteDance declined to comment.
PDD founder Colin Huang stepped down as company chair in 2021 but has continued to play an important role in shaping the company’s strategy, according to people familiar with the matter. PDD said Huang had no “executive responsibilities”.
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