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Richard Liu, founder and chief executive officer of JD.com.
Shares of Chinese e-retailer JD.com plunged 11 percent on Wednesday, dropping for a second straight day, after CEO Richard Liu was arrested last week in Minneapolis after rape allegations.
The Minneapolis police department said on Tuesday that Liu was taken into custody on Friday night. He was released without bail the following day and then returned to China, according to news reports. He has not been charged with any crimes.
JD.com shares have dropped 16 percent in the past two days, with its U.S. shares closing at $26.30 on Wednesday. The stock has plummeted 37 percent this year.
Liu, who founded JD.com in 2004 and has parlayed his ownership into a stake worth billions of dollars, controls about 80 percent of the company’s voting rights. Stifel analysts lowered their rating on the stock to $39 from $48 on Wednesday, citing increased uncertainty.
“We expect investors will view the recent events as an additional risk to a stock that has already struggled YTC,” the analysts wrote. “The additional negativity could continue to be an overhang on shares for some time.”
JD.com didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. According to a Reuters report, Liu’s attorney said that his client denied any wrongdoing.
