Directors and Senior Management
The following table sets forth information regarding our directors and executive officers as of the date of this annual report.
Directors and Executive Officers, Age, Position, Title
Joseph Chen, 51, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Director
James Jian Liu, 48, Director, Chief Operating Officer
Hui Huang, 48, Independent Director
Chuanfu Wang, 56, Independent Director
Cong Lin, 40, Independent Director
Yi Yang, 48, Acting Chief Financial Officer
Rita Rui Yi, 52, Vice President for HR
He Li, 37, Vice President for SaaS and Trucker Path
Michael McGowan, 45, Vice President of Sales, Chime Technologies
Joseph Chen is the founder of our company. Mr. Chen has served as the chairman of our board of directors and chief executive officer of our company since our inception. He is also serving as a director of Kaixin. Mr. Chen is a pioneer of China’s internet industry. Before founding our company, Mr. Chen was the co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of ChinaRen.com, a first-generation SNS in China and one of China’s most visited websites in 1999. He served as senior vice president for Sohu.com after ChinaRen.com was acquired by Sohu.com in 2000. Mr. Chen holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Delaware, a master’s degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA degree from Stanford University.
James Jian Liu has served as our director since January 2008 and chief operating officer since February 2006. Mr. Liu is also acting as a director of Kaixin and our interim Vice President for Games. Before joining our company, he was the co-founder and chief executive officer of UUMe.com, one of the earliest social networking service websites in China. He served as product management director at Fortinet in its early years and held a senior product manager role at Siebel Systems. Mr. Liu started his career as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in China. Mr. Liu holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an MBA degree from Stanford University, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.
Hui Huang has served as our director since January 2015. Ms. Huang served as the chief financial officer of our company from March 2010 to December 2014. From 2007 to February 2010, Ms. Huang was the chief financial officer and director of Cathay Industrial Biotech Ltd. From 2003 to 2007, she was an executive director and Shanghai chief representative of Johnson Electric Capital Limited. From 2000 to 2003, she was an associate of Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. in its principal investment area and executive office. From 1994 to 1998, she was an associate with the Boston Consulting Group. Ms. Huang received a bachelor’s degree in industrial foreign trade from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 1994, and received an MBA degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2000.
Chuanfu Wang has served as a director of our company since May 2012. Mr. Wang is the chairman of the board, an executive director and the president of BYD Company Limited (HKG:1211). He has been an executive director of BYD Company Limited since June 2002, in charge of its general operations and overall strategies. Mr. Wang is currently also a non-executive director and the chairman of BYD Electronic (International) Company Limited (HKG: 0285). Mr. Wang founded Shenzhen BYD Battery Company Limited, the predecessor to BYD Company Limited, in February 1995. Before that he served as the deputy director of the Beijing General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals from 1990 to 1995. Mr. Wang has received many awards, prizes and recognitions, such as Hong Kong’s Bauhinia Cup Outstanding Entrepreneur Award in 2000 and BusinessWeek’s “Stars of Asia” in 2003, among others. In addition, Mr. Wang was elected as a representative in the Shenzhen People’s Congress in March 2000, a member of the Fourth Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee in May 2005, and a member of the Fifth Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee in 2010. Mr. Wang graduated from the Central South University of Technology (now Central South University) in Changsha in 1987, majoring in physical chemistry of metallurgy. He received his master’s degree in physical chemistry of metallurgy at Beijing General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals in 1990.
Lin Cong has served as our director since July 2020. He is also a director of Kaixin and Uxin Limited (Nasdaq: UXIN). He has served as the Vice President of 58.com Group since March 2017. Before joining 58.com, he was the co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Youche.com, an used car dealer chain in China. Mr. Cong took the VP positions of Finance and IT with 58.com before establishing Youche.com, where he served as CEO from February 2014 to March 2017. Mr. Cong also served as management consultant with Boston Consulting Group from August 2008 to August 2009 and as an auditor with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in China from August 2002 to May 2005. Mr. Cong holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Tsinghua University and an M.B.A. degree from Stanford University.
Yi Yang has served as acting chief financial officer of our company since June 2020. Ms. Yang joined Kaixin Auto Holdings (Nasdaq: KXIN) in August 2019 as chief financial officer. Prior to joining Kaixin, Ms. Yang served as strategic investment director for Jomoo, a leading manufacturer and supplier of home products, such as kitchen and bathroom units, in China. Prior to that, she was chief financial officer at Wellong Etown, an internet-based logistics company. Ms. Yang has also worked at the Bank of New York Mellon as vice president and controller, where she formulated strategic financial plans, participated in asset restructurings, and worked on numerous large domestic and cross-border M&A transactions. Ms. Yang received a master’s degree in Computer science from Saint Joseph’s University in the U.S. She is a certified public accountant, and a member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Rita Rui Yi has served as vice president in charge of human resources of our company since October 2016. Prior to joining our company, Ms. Yi served as the human resource senior director of RealNetworks in charge of human resource business partner management work, covering both the greater China region and South Asia region. Prior to that, Ms. Yi also gained human resource management experience from ING Capital Life Insurance Company, General Electronic and Northern Telecom. Ms. Yi received a bachelor’s degree in tourism economy from Beijing International Studies University and received an MBA degree from McMaster University in Canada in 2001.
He Li has served as vice president of our company since 2014 and is now in charge of SaaS and Trucker Path. Mr. Li joined our company in 2011 and has since held various positions in research and development. Mr. Li received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a master’s degree in Software Science Theory from Peking University.
Michael McGowan has served as a vice president of sales for Chime Technologies, one of our U.S.-based SaaS businesses, since March 2019. Prior to joining our company, Mr. McGowan served as vice president of sales for Commissions Inc., a real estate based SaaS company headquartered in Atlanta, from 2017 to 2019. Before that, Michael was a regional vice president in the financial services and financial technology industry with Transamerica from 2014 to 2017. Mr. McGowan served in the United States Marine Corps before entering the corporate world, from 1993 to 2002, completing several combat tours of duty. Mr. McGowan earned his bachelor’s of science from Saint Leo University in accounting and his master’s in business administration from Arizona State University.
