JD.com Inc’s billionaire founder Richard Liu has stepped down as chief executive officer of China’s No. 2 online retailer, joining tech tycoons that exited top management roles after Beijing’s sweeping Internet-sector crackdown.
Xu Lei, who was recently promoted to president after more than a decade at the company, takes the helm of the ecommerce titan effective immediately. Liu’s lieutenant joins JD’s six-member board while Liu remains chairman, the company said in a filing Thursday. Its shares slid as much as 2.9% in early Hong Kong trading.