The SARS Outbreak Helped With Richard Liu’s Success
Richard Liu, entrepreneur and founder of JD.com, grew up in poverty. Thanks to good grades and help from his community, Liu Qiangdong attended the People’s University of China. Though he was studying sociology, he would spend his free time learning computer programming. After earning his EMBA, Liu was ready to start his own business.
In 1998, Liu started his first business selling computer components in a Beijing storefront. By 2003, Liu’s business had grown to 12 storefronts. However, the SARS outbreak stopped Liu from doing business. However, that did not stop Liu from doing business. The thing called the internet was growing in popularity at this time. Within a year, Liu’s online business was up and running. He still centered his business around computer components, but he was slowly expanding into mobile devices, electronics and other tech items.
JD.com continues to grow. The company is one of the world’s leaders in high tech, including drones, self-driving cars and robots. It also has one of the largest delivery drone fleets in the world. Liu is not stopping there. He is working on robotic delivery systems and building airports specifically for the use of drones. In the early summer of 2018, Liu unveiled the first driverless delivery car. Many businesses in China are now looking to put robots behind the wheel instead of humans.
By 2014, Richard Liu’s company was trading on the Nasdaq. JD.com reached over 220 million customers by 2017, and the company has over 150,000 employees. JD.com is the second-largest online retailer in China.
Follow Richard at Twitter: http://Twitter.com/liu_qiangdong
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