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Under the epidemic situation, JD.com is also a double fire.On the one hand, on the other side of the ocean, US judges rejected a motion by JD.com, which aimed to lift Jingyao Liu
In response to Jingdong’s prosecution, Jingdong’s joint liability as a company was removed in the case of Liu Qiangdong. On the other hand, in mainland China, JD.com actively participated in the fight against the epidemic and was widely recognized. At the same time, it was quietly performing the management level replacement at the enterprise level, and also launched the Hong Kong listing plan.
Image from: Jingdong
However, behind the two, there is a common logic: Jingdong is redeeming himself.
JD.com under the epidemic
In a sense, the epidemic helped Jingdong.
Of course, this type of help mainly depends on JD.com’s performance under the epidemic. Especially under the advantage of self-built logistics, JD.com has made official contributions to China’s anti-epidemic work at the level of medical material safety, and has also been recognized by society at the level of life material safety.
Among them, official data shows that in the past 90 days, JD Logistics has transported more than 30,000 tons of emergency medical supplies across the country, of which more than 10,000 tons of emergency medical supplies have been shipped to Hubei and Wuhan, and nearly 30,000 medical aid teams across the country have been free. The luggage is delivered to more than 30 provinces across the country.
CCTV image
For this reason, JD Logistics not only received the thanks of the academic Zhong Nanshan, but also received two letters of thanks from the official (Hubei Province Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention and Control Command + Wuhan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal government).
In addition to logistics, JD.com has helped the epidemic on other levels: For example, online consultation platforms provide free consultation services, provide more than 30,000 jobs to promote employment, and open free artificial intelligence products and services. and cloud-based to governments, businesses, and the public. The platform announced that it will invest 6 billion yuan in Hubei over the next three years to vigorously help Hubei sell its products …
These measures are adding points to JD.com’s overall corporate image, although such points are invisible.
Of course, even from the actual business and financial situation, JD.com performs positively.
For example, in the fourth quarter of 2019 and the full-year financial report released in early March, JD.com’s net income for the year was 576.9 billion yuan, an increase of 24.9% yoy, and the Net service income for the year was 66.2 billion yuan, a substantial increase of 44.1% year-on-year. At the same time, net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders increased to 10.7 billion yuan (non-GAAP), a growth rate of up to 211%.
Screenshot of the JD.com Annual Report 2019
This financial report is of great importance to Jingdong.
Not only is this the first time that JD Group has achieved profitability in 10 years, but it is also the first time that JD GMV (Website Transaction Value) has passed the RMB 2 trillion mark. In addition, there is a bright spot in the financial report: The number of annual active purchase users increased by 18.6% year-on-year through 2018, reaching 362 million.
As all financial data exceeded Wall Street expectations, on the day of the earnings report, JD.com’s stock price soared to $ 43.3 in the earnings report, an increase of up to 12.44%.
In fact, throughout the year of 2019, JD.com’s share price has increased from $ 21.27 at the beginning of the year to $ 35.23 at the end of the year, an increase of up to 65.63%. Since 2020, JD.com’s share price has also grown tortuously in the general environment of the impact of US stocks. USA
Based on the closing price of US stocks on April 28, JD.com’s current share price has increased 23.7% since the beginning of the year.
According to the Sina Hong Kong share report, under rising stock prices, JD.com’s market value also increased by more than $ 12 billion in 2020; and according to the 446 million shares of JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong, his net worth also increased due to JD.com’s share price of $ 3.724 billion.
“There is a kind of love called letting go”
It seems that JD.com seems to be decoupled from Liu Qiangdong on multiple levels.
For example, earlier in January 2020, JD.com filed a motion in the US court. USA That the alleged sexual assault was a personal act of JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong, and demanded that joint and several liability be removed.
Of course, this motion has been rejected by the United States court.
However, on April 2, Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co., Ltd., a central company of the Jingdong Group, had confirmed in the industrial and commercial changes that Liu Qiangdong had resigned from the legal representative, chief executive officer, general manager of the company. , etc. The successor is Xu Lei, CEO of JD Mall.
This action was widely interpreted by the outside world as “Liu Qiangdong resigned as Jingdong’s legal representative.”
In fact, for more than a year, Liu Qiangdong has frequently resigned from senior executives of JD Group companies, including the legal representative and president of dozens of companies, including JD Logistics, JD Digital Technology, and JD Cloud Computing.
However, in terms of actual control, the Jingdong Group is still firmly in the hands of Liu Qiangdong.
According to the 2019 annual report submitted by JD Group to the US SEC. The US, Tencent, Jingdong’s largest shareholder, owns 17.9%, Liu Qiangdong owns 15.1% of JD as the second largest shareholder, and Wal-Mart, the third largest shareholder, owns 9.8%. . However, under the structure of different rights in the same action, Liu Qiangdong has 78.5% of the voting rights (78.6% considering the concerted action), Tencent only 4.6%, Wal-Mart only 2.5%.
Screenshot of the JD.com Annual Report 2019
Therefore, unless Liu Qiangdong himself agrees to change, Jingdong will always be Liu Qiangdong’s own Jingdong.
So on the one hand, it is a large-scale transfer of management power, on the one hand, it is firm control of the power of control. For Jingdong, why should Liu Qiangdong do this?
In this regard, Zhang Xinnian, a partner at the Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, said in an interview with Phoenix.com that from the perspective of the company’s long-term development, Liu Qiangdong’s resignation is beneficial to the sustainable development of the company. He also stated:
Since the personal abilities of founders play a decisive role in the creation and growth of companies, companies often rely heavily on founders, however if the company develops on a certain scale or stage, If the founder remains the center, there are also multiple risks. For example, if an individual fails, it will affect the development of the company and the interests of the shareholders.
Zhang Xinnian also believes that JD.com’s corporate system, culture, and leadership team are basically mature. The successor’s capabilities and the future development of the company should be within the predictable range; and Liu Qiangdong has not transferred or withdrawn JD’s shares. Mission, values, strategy and other issues will continue to play a role.
From this point of view, it is not so much that JD.com started “going east of Liu Qiang”, it is better to say that Liu Qiangdong increasingly understands the truth that “there is a love called letting go.”
It is worth mentioning that during the epidemic, Liu Qiangdong also did not forget to play his personal role as an entrepreneur, donating masks and other medical security materials to the UK, Switzerland and other countries on behalf of the couple, but also quietly for their personal image. Extra points
Liu Qiangdong’s redemption
Regarding control of JD.com, Liu Qiangdong said in an interview:
If this company cannot be controlled, I prefer to sell it.
Image from: Jingdong
In fact, from the commercial level, the Jingdong company is still controlled by Liu Qiangdong. But in turn, in such a strong bond of individuals and companies, Liu Qiangdong also had to give up JD.com’s corporate image management and future development rights, and chose to withdraw behind the scenes, although it might not be Liu Qiangdong behind the scenes A voluntary choice.
But for Liu Qiangdong, this is probably the best form of self-salvation.
