According to a Sina Tech report apparently based on SEC filings, Youku’s president Liu Dele recently sold more than 160,000 of his shares in Youku (NYSE:YOKU), and Youku investors Brookside Capital also dumped nearly 170,000 shares. In total, Mr. Liu and Brookside likely cashed out at more than $3 million each, but the abrupt sales of company stock by two inside parties sent Youku’s stock price plummeting by more than ten percent (it has since recovered a bit).
Youku representatives have responded to questions about the selloff by saying that is Mr. Liu’s personal financial decision, and does not violate any company rules.
It’s not clear whether the timing of the stock sales was a coincidence, but the whole thing does seem a little odd, especially on the heels of Youku’s successful merger with Tudou. Youku’s stock wasn’t at an especially high point before the sale, and it’s difficult not to speculate that Liu and Brookside might be privy to some internal information that influenced their decision, even though there’s absolutely no evidence of that.
Full disclosure: I previously worked for Youku, but have no current interests in it or any other tech company.
[via Sina Tech]
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