China tech execs wave white flag as crackdown takes toll

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JD.com’s (JD, NDAQ) founder Richard Liu called time on his tenure as CEO of China’s second-biggest online retailer last week. He relinquished his role to JD.com’s president, Lei Xu, and, just like that, another tech founder in China bit the dust.

Liu’s departure comes amid a trend of tech tycoons stepping down from top management roles amid China’s big tech crackdown. Zhang Yiming, Su Hua, and Colin Huang, the founders of TikTok-owner ByteDance, Kuaishou Technology (1024, HKG), and Pinduoduo (PDD, NDAQ), respectively, have all recently quit from their high-profile tech positions.

Beijing been tougher on its tech space ever since Alibaba (BABA, NDAQ) founder Jack Ma’s fiery criticism against China’s regulatory system in 2020. Those comments led to fintech firm Ant Group’s US$37 billion IPO being suspended.

It’s somewhat surprising that JD.com has so far been one of the few Chinese internet titans to avoid any direct impact from China’s sweeping campaign to rein in big tech. The firm has escaped any major regulatory action – unlike its rival Alibaba, which was hit with a US$2.8 billion fine for alleged monopolistic practices.

However, JD.com has been caught in a broader Chinese tech selloff and economic slowdown, with the ecommerce player’s market valuation diving to half of what it was at its peak last year.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Speaking of high-profile tech execs, Tech in Asia also highlights the leaders at GoTo Group in this premium piece ahead of its hotly-anticipated public listing on Monday. It will be the first company to issue voting shares across multiple classes and tap new rules that allow unprofitable firms to list directly on the Indonesian Stock Exchange.

GoTo was established via the merger of super app Gojek and ecommerce giant Tokopedia. Unsurprisingly, the influence of leaders from both these firms remain ripe at the very top of GoTo’s C-suite.

GoTo will also be the first local private company to go public in Indonesia this year and it promises to be the first of many. Traveloka, LinkAja, J&T Express, Tiket, Blibli, and Run System are all set to list in 2022. With a host of IPOs in the offing, my colleague Budi maps out prominent tech companies that are already trading on the Indonesian Stock Exchange.

— Shravanth

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