Richard Liu, the CEO of JD.com, has been Accused of Rape

That time China and MeToo collided.

There is a wrong time to be accused of sexual misconduct if you are a Tech CEO. This is the “Me Too” era, where powerful men are falling and hurting the brand reputation of their companies. The stock decline of JD.com is a prime example.

In a very high profile case, Liu was arrested on Aug. 31 in the U.S. state of Minnesota after an allegation of rape and was released the following day without charge and without paying bail, but remains under investigation by U.S. police. What occurred during the incident has been a matter of great public speculation.

Everyone likes to short against a company with these kinds of allegations. It’s pretty intense: short sellers made $153 million in profits from the stock decline, which saw shares fall 14% last week.

JD.com is the second-largest Chinese e-commerce company after Alibaba and has a sizable piece of the Chinese market, with plans to aggressively expand globally. We are talking about the conduct of a Chinese billionaire here.

• A 21-year-old University of Minnesota student sent a WeChat message to a friend in the middle of the night. She wrote that Liu had forced her to have sex with him.
• “I was not willing,” she wrote in Chinese on a messaging application around 2 a.m. on August 31. “Tomorrow I will think of a way to escape,” she wrote, as she begged the friend not to call police.
• “He will suppress it,” she wrote, referring to Liu. “You underestimate his power.”

This WeChat exchange and another one reviewed by Reuters have not been previously reported. One of the woman’s lawyers, Wil Florin, verified that the text messages came from her.

Rags to Riches to Rapist?

The case has drawn intense scrutiny globally and in China, where the tycoon, also known as Liu Qiangdong, is celebrated for his rags-to-riches story. “Me Too” has definitely spread in China as well.

According to CNBC, Liu, 45, is married to Zhang Zetian, described by Chinese media as 24 years old, who has become a celebrity in China and works to promote JD.com. Influencers and E-commerce have a much more amplified connection in China than in the United States.

Liu has a stronger hold on JD.com than Zuck has on Facebook. He basically has nearly 80 percent of the voting rights in JD.com. With the stuck plunging and “Me Too” in the air, the entire world is watching and somewhat horrified.

While shares of JD.com have plunged more than 15%, there’s another conspiracy story that it was an elaborate trap. Liu is worth nearly $7 Billion USD and this could have very well been orchestrated.

The tab: $2,200, the receipt shows — and the young woman also felt trapped by the pressure to drink at the event, and the status quo of “entertaining” the various men in attendance. In Asian culture business meetings play out a bit differently than in the West.

Liu insisted to take the student home, and Liu and the woman then headed to a house in Minneapolis. The house had been rented by one of Liu’s classmates in the academic program to give the class a place to network, socialize and eat.

In the WeChat message to one of her friends sent hours later, the student said Liu “started to touch me in the car.”

“Then I begged him not to… but he did not listen,” she wrote.

According to the police report, the alleged rape occurred at around 1 a.m.

In a WeChat message with one of her friends, she asked her friend why the billionaire would be interested in “an ordinary girl” like her.

“If it was just me, I could commit suicide immediately,” she wrote. “But I’m afraid that my parents will suffer.”

She wrote that she would keep her bed sheets. “Evidence cannot be thrown away,” she wrote.

As an officer handcuffed him, Liu showed no emotion. Inexplicably he was released 17 hours after being arrested.

It’s the era of MeToo, where you are guilty until proven innocent, where older powerful men continue to molest vulnerable younger women. However women are more likely to speak up and men more likely to get caught, shamed or fired.

Liu has led the US$45 billion business since its founding and controls the business through special voting rights. Is he untouchable? You tell me. JD.com’s stock is down nearly 8% today.