Liu Qiangdong, otherwise known as Richard Liu, is a Chinese Internet entrepreneur who founded online retail giant JD.com, one of the leading e-commerce retailers in China. Last year, Forbes estimated the company to be worth $43 billion and his own personal wealth at $7.5 billion. Dubbed the “Jeff Bezos of China”, Liu’s parents were in the business of shipping coal from northern to southern China, making him a true rags-to-riches story and one of the most famous self-made billionaires in the world.
Beginning as a brick-and-mortar franchise selling primarily electronic goods, Liu changed his business model in 2005 to focus on the e-commerce side. He eventually went public on the US stock exchange in January 2014, with a valuation of $25.7 billion, making it the largest Chinese IPO ever.
After being embroiled in two separate controversies last year, one in which he was accused of rape but not charged, his value dropped by a significant percentage. In 2015, he was married to Zhang Zetian, herself an Internet celebrity in China known as “Sister Milk Tea”. Zhang gave birth to their daughter in March 2016. Liu also has a son, ten years her senior, from a previous relationship.
