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Why did these 5 Chinese tech billionaires step down? JD.com’s Richard Liu was the latest, but so did Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Zhang Yiming of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent …

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Learn more about why these Chinese tech founders are stepping away from their roles. Photos: @36氪, @咏竹坊, @侃见财经, @电商品牌报/Weibo; @businessbarista/Twitter
Learn more about why these Chinese tech founders are stepping away from their roles. Photos: @36氪, @咏竹坊, @侃见财经, @电商品牌报/Weibo; @businessbarista/Twitter
Millionaires and billionaires

  • JD.com’s founder Liu recently announced that he’s stepping down as CEO, joining Alibaba’s Ma and other tech leaders, who also left leadership roles amid Beijing’s crackdown
  • Zhang, founder of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, and Su Hua, founder of TikTok’s main rival in China, Kuaishou, both left CEO positions in 2021 too

China’s top tech chiefs are stepping down from their leadership roles amid Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on the sector.

JD.com founder Richard Liu poses during a Reuters interview in Hong Kong in 2017. Photo: Reuters
JD.com founder Richard Liu poses during a Reuters interview in Hong Kong in 2017. Photo: Reuters
E-commerce giant JD.com’s wealthy founder Richard Liu is the most recent executive to step down. Last year, both Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok-owner ByteDance, and Su Hua, founder of TikTok’s main rival Kuaishou, gave up CEO positions. In 2020, Colin Huang, founder of popular e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, stepped down as CEO. And in 2019, Jack Ma stepped down as chairman of e-commerce behemoth Alibaba. (Alibaba Holdings is also the owner of the South China Morning Post.)
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Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma arrives for the Tech for Good summit in Paris in 2019. Photo: AP
Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma arrives for the Tech for Good summit in Paris in 2019. Photo: AP

The pressure for a regime change comes amid increasing oversight from Beijing. In recent years, China has launched antitrust probes against tech companies, increased oversight of data security, and restricted consumers’ usage of internet and gaming platforms.

The crackdown has dented investor confidence and hurt company earnings. Last month, social media giant Tencent reported its slowest revenue growth on record. JD.com also posted its first annual loss in three years. JD.com and other major tech firms are also firing thousands of workers.

Here’s a round-up of the five former tech bigwigs and what they’re doing now.

1. Richard Liu, founder of JD.com

Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu, is one of the leading e-commerce industry leaders in China. Photo: Weibo
Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu, is one of the leading e-commerce industry leaders in China. Photo: Weibo

Age: 49

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