appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Sophia Lam

Founder and CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Richard Liu Qiangdong recently made headlines after he was taken into custody on August 31 by Minneapolis police on suspicion of criminal sexual misconduct. He was later released with no charges filed.
So who is Richard Liu?

JD.com CEO Richard Liu willing to cooperate further with US authorities if needed after rape allegation arrest
Liu founded Jingdong Mall (JD.com) in 2004, which went on to become one of China’s e-commerce heavyweights, alongside other tech giants like Alibaba’s Tmall. (Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.)
Headquartered in Beijing, JD.com is one of the biggest B2C (business to consumer) online retailers in China, based on transaction volume and revenue. It is also a member of the Fortune Global 500.
Here are some facts you should know about the 44-year-old billionaire:
1. The love story with ‘Milk Tea Sister’












View this post on Instagram


















Let’s call it a day and see you next year #wef2018 @jd_corporate
A post shared by Zetian Zhang(Nancy) (@zetianzzz) on Jan 25, 2018 at 11:13pm PST



He wedded Zhang Zetian in 2015, who was 21 years old and pregnant at the time, 19 years his junior. The daughter of a Nanjing-based company director Zhang Lihou, Zhang rose to internet stardom in 2009 when a photo of her holding a cup of milk tea went viral online.

The couple met in New York when Zhang was an exchange student at Barnard College and Liu was studying at Columbia University. The pair’s names were first associated in public in 2014 when Liu admitted their relationship on Weibo.
Zhang became China’s youngest female billionaire at the age of 24, soon after her marriage to Liu. Their baby girl was born in 2016.
How Zhang Zetian, 24, became China’s youngest female billionaire
2. Not a fan of nicknames

Liu denounced his wife’s internet-gifted moniker “Milk Tea Sister” in a post on Moments, WeChat’s social-networking platform where users can share messages with an intimate circle of “close friends”, saying that “they [him and his wife] hate that name”.
3. Start of an empire

Life wasn’t all rosy for Liu when he started as an entrepreneur. Back in 1998, he started selling magneto-optical products such as CD ROMs in Beijing. The name “Jingdong” referred to the last character of his and his then-girlfriend’s name. His number of stores grew until 2003, when SARS stopped short his expansion plans. That was the time he began to muse about the possibility of an online business – a thought which eventually blossomed into JD.com.
4. Rising star on the ranking game

With a net worth of US$10.8 billion this June, Liu came 140th on Forbes’ The World’s Billionaires 2018 ranking. His net worth as of today is US$6.7 billion, according to Forbes. Ranking 18th on Forbes’ China Rich List 2017 – where Ma Huateng came second – Liu was instrumental in forging an alliance with internet media giant Tencent.
Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter


Harvey Weinstein gets 15 years in jail for 2006 New York sex crime

Meet Bryan Seaver, the late Dolly Parton’s nephew accused of extorting her estate

Meet Preston Cook, the husband of Julia Stiles, as she debuts on Dancing with the Stars

A look back at country star and The Voice coach Riley Green’s romantic history

Fame and celebrity

Who is Richard Liu? Things you should know about the Chinese billionaire

Richard Liu and his wife, Zhang Zetian, met in the US where they were both studying.

This 2018 photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office shows Chinese billionaire Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu, the founder of the Beijing-based e-commerce site JD.com, who was arrested in Minneapolis on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct, jail records show. (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP)

FILE PHOTO: Richard Liu Qiangdong, CEO and founder of China's e-commerce company JD.com, attends a session of the second annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen town of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, China, December 16, 2015. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

The photo that brought Zhang Zetian to fame.

Ma Huateng, chairman and chief executive officer of Tencent Holdings Ltd., speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, March 21, 2018. Tencent postedÂ quarterly profit that beat estimates, bolstered by mobile game blockbusters like Honour of Kings and a growing ad business. Photographer: Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg

10 things you didn't know about Tencent CEO Pony Ma

CEO of Tencent, Ma Huateng, used his knowledge and experience to set up instant messaging software OICQ, later known as QQ. Photo: Chen Xiaomei

Icons for Quick Response (QR) code, left, and the Tencent Holdings Ltd. QQ messaging application are seen in this arranged photograph taken in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Regulators elsewhere may be clamping down on the financial industry's use of private messaging apps, but in China the practice is flourishing. Players in the country's $11 trillion bond market use personal accounts on WeChat and QQ for everything from distributing research to soliciting orders. Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg

Martin Lau Chi-ping (L), President of Tencent, and Pony Ma Huateng , Chairman & CEO attend Tencent 2016 Forth Quarter and Annual Results at Four Seasons Hotel in Central. 22MAR17 SCMP / David Wong

Tencent's new headquarters in Shenzhen

Tencent's logo

Pony Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent, speaks at a press briefing held during the annual parliamentary meetings (NPC) in Beijing. 03MAR18 SCMP/Simon Song

Magazines

Style

Celebrities

Here are some interesting facts about the founder and CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com


Luxury CEOs

Who is Richard Liu? Things you should know about the Chinese billionaire

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Here are some interesting facts about the founder and CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com

Here are some interesting facts about the founder and CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com