Zuo Hui (左晖) founder and chairman of New York-listed residential real estate services giant KE Holdings Inc., died on Thursday after an “unexpected worsening of illness,” the company announced, without providing more specifics.
“Our commitment to clients, employees, shareholders and business partners remains as strong as ever, and we will continue to do the right thing even if it’s difficult,” said CEO Peng Yongdong in a statement.
The company added that its board will make “appropriate arrangements for corporate governance and related matters and make an announcement in due course within two weeks.” Shares of KE, which uses the name Beike in Chinese, were down more than 10% in Thursday pre-market trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Zuo was just 50 at the time of his death, according to Baidu’s Wikipedia-style Baike website. At that age, he was among a generation of people to come of age during the early years of China’s reform and opening-up period that included the introduction of private enterprises and a more market-oriented economy.
Zuo founded KE two decades ago, and its Lianjia chain of real estate brokerages would go on to become a fixture in major cities as China developed a more market-oriented private property sector. More recently the company has also become known for its online Beike platform.
KE listed its shares in New York last August. Since then the stock has more than doubled, giving the company a market value of nearly $60 billion.
Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
Get our weekly free Must-Read newsletter.
