Steven Zhang, will the Inter president lead the Chinese giant Suning?
Suning's president resigns after losing control of the company. And he proposes his son, Steven Zhang (president of Inter), as CEO of the Nanjing holding. All the details
Chinese billionaire Zhang Jindong has resigned as president of Suning.com, a company of the eponymous group active in the retail sector.
It did so on Monday, after losing control of the company following the sale – for $ 1.3 billion – of a 16.96 percent stake to a consortium led by Chinese state authorities and technology company Alibaba.
WHO WAS IN THE CHINESE CONSORTIUM
In addition to Alibaba and the government of Jiangsu province, the group of investors also includes the smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi and the appliance companies Midea and Haier.
STEVEN ZHANG (INTER) PROPOSED NEW DIRECTOR
Zhang, 58, will now serve as the honorary president of Suning.com. He proposed his son, Steven Zhang, for the role of non-independent CEO of the Nanjing holding. Steven Zhang is the president of Inter: Suning Holdings Group, the parent company of Suning.com, became the majority shareholder of the football club in 2016 for the sum of 270 million euros.
The change at the top of Suning.com will have to be approved by the shareholders: the decision is expected for July 29th. For the moment, the position of president is occupied by Ren Jun, a member of the board of directors of the company (and also of Inter Milan).
WHAT SUNING DOES
Suning.com is a major player in the Chinese retail market, primarily of electronics products. It actually operates in a large number of sectors that are different and even far from the main one, such as real estate and sports.
Suning.com's market value is around 52 billion yuan ($ 8 billion), but the company has been in financial trouble for some time. His business was damaged by the pandemic crisis, and liquidity concerns intensified last September when Zhang renounced the right to a 20 billion yuan payment from Evergrande Group, China's largest and most indebted real estate group. in the world. He did this to help his friend Hui Ka Yan, president of Evergrande.
BECAUSE ZHANG RESIGNED
Last month, a court in Beijing froze Zhang's 5.8 percent stake in Suning.com, worth 3 billion yuan.
Suning's "rescue" intervention by the Chinese authorities through the consortium responds to Beijing's intention to discourage the uncontrolled expansion of those companies whose debts have reached dimensions deemed dangerous for the stability of the national financial market.
THE HERITAGE OF ZHANG
In 2015, Zhang was one of China's richest entrepreneurs with a net worth of $ 11.5 billion. Not only had he made Suning – founded in 1990 to sell air conditioners – a retail giant, but he had also supported Chinese football ambitions by controlling Inter Milan. Today, however, its fortunes amount to 1 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/suning-dimissioni-presidente-zhang/ on Wed, 14 Jul 2021 05:42:34 +0000.