Zuo Hui (January 1971 – May 20, 2021) was a Chinese entrepreneur, real estate tycoon and founder of KE Holdings.

Early life and education

In 1992, Zuo earned a degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

from

Beijing University of Chemical Technology The Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT, ) is a public university in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. It was founded in 1958 and is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211 and the Double Firs ...

. In 2008, he earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

Career

After graduating, Zuo worked in a series of sales jobs in insurance and other industries. In 2001, he founded Beijing Lianjia, a Chinese real-estate brokerage company. In 2010, Zuo started Yiju Taihe, which offered property-related financial services. In 2018, Zuo founded Beike, an online brokerage platform. In the same year, Zuo created KE Holdings, an

umbrella company An umbrella company is a company that employs agency contractors who work on temporary contract assignments, usually through a recruitment agency in the United Kingdom. Recruitment agencies prefer to issue contracts to a limited company to reduce ...

into which he put Lianjia, Yiju Taihe and Beike. In 2020, KE Holdings raised $2.12 billion from its

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

, valuing the company at just under $40 billion.

Net worth

In April 2021,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

estimated Zuo's net worth to be $15.5 billion.

Death

Zuo died on May 20, 2021, at 50 years old as a result of an unspecified illness. Beike named CEO Peng Yongdong as the new chairman following his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuo, Hui 1971 births 2021 deaths Chinese businesspeople Beijing University of Chemical Technology alumni Peking University alumni