CEO Meituan’s assets evaporated 1.5 billion USD because of the poem Tang

After CEO Wang Xing posted the poem “Tang” on social media, the share price of Meituan – China’s number one food delivery company – plunged more than 15% in two days.
According to the Bloomberg , in the trading session on May 10, Meituan’s share price plunged 7.1%. To date, the price has decreased by 8.6%. The single drop on May 10 wiped out $1.5 billion in assets of CEO Wang Xin. Bloomberg Billionaires Index statistics show that Mr. Wang now owns $19.4 billion, down $2.38 billion since the beginning of the year.

Mr. Wang holds an 11% stake in China’s largest food delivery group. Meituan’s share price has fallen since last month when the State Administration of Market Regulations of China (SAMR) announced it was opening an investigation into Meituan for anticompetitive practices. Meituan stock price received a new shock on May 10 when CEO Wang posted on social media a poem Tang about the phenomenon of book burning in the Qin Dynasty. Many people think this is Mr. Wang’s way of criticizing the Chinese government for its campaign to tighten control of Internet corporations. Meituan’s stock price plummeted because CEO Wang Xing posted the ancient poem online. Photo: Xinhua. Billionaire Wang deleted the post shortly after, explaining that he used the poem to criticize Meituan’s competitors. However, it was all too late. The hashtag #MeituanSharePriceSlump (Meituan stock price plummeted) attracted 32 million followers on the social networking platform Weibo. At the same time, the Shanghai Consumer Council also heavily criticized Meituan for inappropriate business practices. Recently, the Chinese technology industry has been struggling because of the repressive measures of the Beijing government. The Hang Seng Technology Index is down about 30% from February. “The Chinese tech industry is going through a lot of ups and downs. Technology regulations are constantly being applied, leading to regulatory risks, making it difficult to forecast industry growth,” said Jackson Wong, head of asset management at Amber Hill Capital.