The bad news keeps coming for Zhou Hongyi, founder of security software company 360 Group and one of China’s leading tech entrepreneurs. First, the man, whose outspokenness has earned him a reputation as China’s “internet bad boy,” split with his wife Hu Huan, handing her 6.25% of his company’s shares worth about 9 billion yuan ($1.26 billion) as part of their divorce settlement.
More recently, Huafang Group Inc. (3611.HK), which counts Zhou as a major backer, lost its auditor with the sudden resignation of KPMG last week, in a blow to the company as it fights to resume trading after its shares were suspended in April.
Zhou is one of China’s best-known high-tech entrepreneurs. He worked for Founder Group, an early big name in the computer industry, in 1995 and was quickly promoted to general manager of the business department. But his ambition didn’t end there, and he set up his 3721 Web Assistant, one of China’s first search engines, in 1998. That led to his first shot of fame – and wealth – in 2003 when he sold the company to Yahoo for $120 million, and went on to serve as president of Yahoo China.