Bloomberg
China Property Giant billionaire founder dies of illness
(Bloomberg) – The billionaire founder of KE Holdings Inc. has died of an unspecified illness, a shocking development for a Chinese real estate company that has had one of the strongest debuts in the U.S. market of 2020.Zuo Hui, who transformed the company known as Beike from a nationwide chain of real estate offices to China’s largest platform for housing transactions and services, died on May 20 after “unexpectedly worsening illness.” his company said in a statement without giving further details. The board of directors of KE Holdings will announce the follow-up arrangements within two weeks, he added. two-class voting structure at the end of February, according to its annual report. The company’s U.S. certificates of deposit fell 0.8% to $ 49.85 in New York on Thursday, offsetting an earlier drop of nearly 10% .Zuo was backed by some of Asia’s most influential startup investors , including Hillhouse Capital Group and Tencent Holdings Ltd., and ranks among SoftBank Group Corp.’s Most Successful Bets. KE Holdings nearly doubled when it debuted in August in the United States, propelling Zuo into the ranks of the world’s richest entrepreneurs with a fortune of over $ 20 billion at one point, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index. debuted until the close on Wednesday, giving the late president a net worth of $ 14.8 billion. In an interview with CCTV that aired in April, he downplayed the importance of the IPO and the riches it conferred. “Why should I be feeling excited?” he said, wearing jeans, a dark blue waistcoat and black sneakers. “It doesn’t make any difference to me.” Read more: Founder of China Property Site With No Profits Worth $ 20 billion Born in 1971 in Shaanxi Province, Zuo graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in 1992 before going into sales and to create an insurance business, where he made his first fortune, according to local media. He then founded Beijing Lianjia Real Estate Brokerage Co. in 2001, when the Chinese real estate market was still relatively young, and launched Ziroom in 2011 to offer long-term apartment rentals. In 2018, he incorporated KE and launched Beike, becoming one of the country’s most famous entrepreneurs. Beike uses artificial intelligence and big data to improve its service and deliver market intelligence, according to its website. As of June, the company had 226 million households on its platform and 39 million monthly active users on mobile. This has grown to over 48 million monthly active mobile users and half a million agents.The platform is also attracting more by allowing decorators, renovators and financial institutions to connect with buyers. , thus creating an ecosystem of properties and associated offers. price in third paragraph) More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com