Chinese billionaire Liu Qiangdong is stepping down from key positions in the company that he founded. Liu, who founded Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, is resigning as the general manager, legal representative, and executive director of JD parent company Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co.
Industry experts have pointed out that Liu's decision doesn't necessarily mean that he will be leaving the company. Similar to how Bill Gates had stepped down from his position and appointed Steve Ballmer as his successor in Microsoft during its early days, Liu will likely still have full control over JD.com and its subsidiaries, at least until he has groomed his successor.
Replacing Liu will be JD Retail's chief executive officer, Xu Lei. He will be taking over all of Lui's previous responsibilities with the Beijing Jingdong Century while at the same time overseeing operations at the company's retail business. In its announcement, JD downplayed the leadership shift stating that it was a "fairly normal" transition.
Since the start of the year, Liu has been slowly stepping down from the top positions of the company's 46 subsidiaries. He has appointed different executives to take over his responsibilities for subsidiaries such as JD Logistics, JD Cloud, and JD Digits. Liu still holds a substantial stake in the company he founded, owning 16.28 percent. He is currently the company's second-largest stakeholder, while also controlling close to 80 percent of its voting rights.
Analysts at Chanson & Co stated that Liu is still pretty much in control of the company and is merely shedding some responsibilities to give him time to find a suitable successor to push the company forward. Among all his executives, Lei is the most likely to succeed Liu in taking over operations and management of the company and its subsidiaries.
Liu also likely wants to distance himself from the company given his personal situation. In 2018, the billionaire was arrested in the United States after he was accused of criminal sexual misconduct. This had raised concerns amongst investors, who questioned the company's decision-making structure and Liu's leadership role.
Despite his personal issues, Liu still managed to steer the company into substantial growth under his leadership. Last year, the company managed to rake in profits attributable to ordinary shareholders of around 12.2 billion yuan or roughly $1.7 billion. This was a massive 589 percent jump from the profits the company generated in 2018. JD also managed to significantly increase its annual active customer accounts from 305.3 million in 2018 to 362 million last year.
