The ex-wife of one of China’s wealthiest tech moguls could be a billionaire after the couple’s divorce as Zhou Hongyi, chairperson of cybersecurity firm 360 Security Technology Inc., gave a 6.25 percent stake in the company, worth about US$1.3 billion, to his former partner Hu Huan after divorce negotiations, according to a company filing.
Not much is publicly known about Hu, who hasn’t worked at the company and held no shares before the agreement. She was born in 1971 and is a Chinese citizen with Singapore permanent residence, according to a separate filing.
Zhou, 52, remains the group’s actual controlling shareholder.
Zhou delisted his Qihoo 360 Technology Co. from the New York Stock Exchange in July 2016 and began trading in February 2018 in Shanghai as 360 Security Technology Inc. The move boosted Zhou’s net worth at the time to more than US$13 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune has since crumbled as China’s crackdown weighs on tech companies.
But the political tide could be shifting again. His company surged 63 percent in March as China’s state media lauded the growth of the country’s artificial intelligence sector. Zhou, meantime, was confirmed as a member of China’s top political advisory body.
(Bloomberg)
