Online retailer Dangdang claims its co-founder stole the company’s seals to orchestrate an illegitimate takeover
By Cai Xuejiao
Chinese e-commerce company Dangdang has accused one of its co-founders of an illegitimate power grab through unauthorized activities.
In a statement Sunday, the company said Li Guoqing and several others had stolen dozens of official seals in an attempt to take over operations. The statement added that its official seals were invalid, effective immediately, while all contracts and agreements stamped with the seals in question would be nullified.
In February of last year, Li announced he was no longer involved in Dangdang’s operations or holding any positions on the company’s board, according to multiple media reports. Months later, Li and his wife Yu Yu, the company’s other co-founder, had a spat over their shares during their divorce settlement.
According to domestic media reports, Li plastered a printed notice in Dangdang’s office on Sunday, announcing he had been elected Dangdang’s chairman and general manager and was therefore responsible for the company’s management following a shareholders’ meeting on April 24. The notice also accused Yu of creating losses and having a “negative impact” on the company, adding that she would no longer serve as Dangdang’s executive director, legal representative, or general manager.
However, Kan Min, vice president of Dangdang, said Yu is still in charge of the company with a 52.23% stake, and Li currently doesn’t hold any positions at Dangdang, according to The Beijing News. He said Li’s takeover claim is illegal, and that none of the company's board members were notified nor had attended the meeting in question.
According to Kan, Li broke into the company’s office with his four bodyguards and secretary, who knew where the official seals were stored.
However, Li said he had entered the office with some of the company’s current employees and a lawyer, according to The Beijing News.
In an audio clip released by the media outlet, a man said to be Li is heard saying that seizing the official seals was the “first step” toward reclaiming the company. “I received support from some shareholders and hold more than 51% of the stakes,” he claimed.
In a post on microblogging platform Weibo, Li dismissed the accusations that he had stolen the company’s seals, adding that he took them following the shareholder’s meeting where he received majority support to helm the company.
On Sunday night, Li put up another — stamped — notice from the company saying the shareholders and the board of directors had decided to make him the general manager and chairman of the company, according to domestic media. The notice added that any statement from the company without the official seal would be invalid.
Li and Yu co-founded Dangdang in 1999 as an online bookstore. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2010, becoming the first Chinese e-commerce site to be listed in the U.S., before e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com. Dangdang was delisted in 2016.
Editor: Bibek Bhandari.
(Header image: Li Guoqing and Yu Yu tour the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., Dec. 8, 2010. Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images/People Visual)
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