Chinese Tech Tycoon's Ex-Wife Becomes Billionaire In Divorce Settlement - Forbes

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Zhou Hongyi has reached an agreement with his former wife, Hu Huan, to transfer $1.3 billion worth of shares in Qihoo 360 Technology to her as part of their divorce settlement. The couple’s separation will turn Hu into a billionaire, thanks to an almost 200% surge in the company’s Shanghai-listed shares this year.

The 52-year-old chairman and chief executive of the Beijing-based internet security and search company has agreed to give Hu 446.6 million shares in the tech firm, according to a late Tuesday stock exchange filing. Zhou will continue to be the controlling shareholder of the company he founded more than three decades ago after relinquishing the 6.25% stake in Qihoo 360, the filing says.

Investors have been snapping up Qihoo 360’s stock after it announced in February that it plans to develop its own version of a conversational ChatGPT bot. The tech firm unveiled its product in March, although the bot was subsequently featured in video clips by local media giving an incorrect answer when asked how many goals Argentine football player Lionel Messi had scored.

The company said in Tuesday’s stock exchange filings that Hu isn’t involved in its management, and doesn’t hold any positions at Qihoo 360 nor its subsidiaries. Hu is said to be a permanent resident of Singapore, and does not intend to reduce her shareholding in Qihoo 360 within the next 6 months, while Zhou has pledged not to reduce his stake in the next 12 months.

Zhou saw his wealth peak at $11.3 billion in 2018, when the tech mogul relisted Qihoo 360 in Shanghai, after completing a $9.3 billion buyout and privatization from the New York Stock Exchange in 2016. Investors at home gave the antivirus software developer a richer valuation initially, but shares took a tumble in the years that followed as China’s crackdown on the broader internet industry weighed on investor sentiment.

In 2019, Zhou made headlines for publicly sharing his view on the working culture of Chinese technology companies. He said during a media briefing at the time that it’s impossible to strike the right balance between spending time with family while working long hours. China’s tech giants have been known to adopt a so-called 996 schedule—where people are expected to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.

The couple’s divorce will rank as one of the costliest separations in China. Gaming tycoon Zhou Yahui gave his ex-wife a stake worth $1.1 billion in Beijing Kunlun Tech as part of their divorce agreement in 2016. And real estate mogul Wu Yajun transferred in 2012 a 30% stake in Longfor Properties—worth almost $3 billion then—to ex-husband Cai Kui after reaching their divorce settlement.

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