Richard Liu, or Liu Qiangdong as many Chinese people may know him as, is the individual behind the success of JD.com. Liu is responsible for founding the hugely popular e-commerce platform that is worth well over $50 billion. He also functions as the Chief Executive Officer. In fact, as the founder, Liu is reportedly worth several billion dollars himself according to Forbes.
JD.com continues to rise in stoke with Walmart serving as a new shareholder. Not to mention, the company invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Farfetch. The two companies have also formed a partnership that is mutually beneficial for both parties involved as both have very similar goals.
Although Liu majored in sociology at Renmin University of China,he put forth a lot more effort toward bettering his computer programming skills through freelance coding work. After receiving his degree in sociology from the university he attended the China Europe International Business School, where he earned an EMBA.
Liu’s first business venture entailed the opening of a shop that sold magneto optical products In China’s capital city. The name of the shop was “Jingdong.” He came up with the title by combining the last character of his then-girlfriend’s name and the last character of his own name. In just 5 short years the shop had grown to include 12 independent stores. This chain of stores would eventually come to be known as JD.com. Soon after the name change the Liu rebranded it as an e-commerce company. Along with this change the company began selling other quality consumer goods besides electronics.
In 2014 JD.com went public in the U.S. on the heels of one of the biggest Nasdaq floats of that year. WeChat acquiring a small stake in the company played a major role in its decision to go public in the U.S.
JD.com, as well as competitor Alibaba, is growing at a rapid pace in the e-commerce industry.
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