bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Peggy Sito

Wang Zhidong, Sina.com founder and former chief executive, has said he did not leave the company voluntarily and has questioned the legality of his removal.

'I never proposed resigning from the posts of chief executive, president and director,' Mr Wang said in Beijing yesterday.

'I never signed any document related to such matters.'

Mr Wang was speaking publicly for the first time about his departure from the struggling China portal, which three weeks ago announced a senior management restructuring.

Mr Wang said he had not been informed by Sina.com's directors before they appointed a new chief executive.

The company at the time gave no explanation for the decision, he said yesterday.

'Up to today, I still have not had any kind of explanation [from the board],' he said. 'I think I deserved fairer [treatment] from Sina.com.'

Mr Wang said he doubted if directors had acted properly in forcing him to leave the company.

'I have asked my lawyer to study the issue,' he said.

He would continue to hold talks with directors of Sina.com but did not say whether he would take any further action.

On June 4, Sina.com announced the lay off of 15 per cent of its staff and a reshuffle of senior management in a cost-cutting and restructuring exercise.

Sina.com also said Mr Wang had resigned and would be replaced as chief executive by chief operating officer Daniel Mao. Mr Wang would remain as 'chief adviser', it said.

The news was seen a major blow to confidence in the mainland's Internet industry.

Mr Wang yesterday reiterated he had not resigned. 'It would not have been responsible to resign at a time when Sina.com was facing a challenge to its business,' he said.

He did not say what his future plans were but state media reported he would concentrate on telecommunications and Internet business development.

Mr Wang is one of the best-known industry figures in the mainland. He was a software engineer before setting up his own company in 1993 which he merged with a Silicon Valley firm in 1998 to form Sina.com. It listed on the Nasdaq market in the United States in March last year, raising US$60 million.

Sina.com is one of the most-visited Web portals in China, but its share price has plunged over the past year due to falling online advertising revenues, lower corporate spending and an e-commerce market that never took off as predicted in Asia.

Recent mainland newspaper reports have said Sina.com will merge with Chinadotcom.



Sina founder challenges his sacking