On November 22, the police in Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, Chengdu issued a police report: after investigation, our bureau found that Chen Moujie (male, 39 years old) was suspected of opening a casino. At present, Chen Moujie has been arrested in accordance with the law. The case is under further investigation.
It is reported that Chen Moujie is the CEO of Douyu, Chen Shaojie.
Douyu CEO Chen Shaojie Arrested
The high point of the stock price has dropped by over 90%
On the evening of November 21st, a notice once again pushed the game live streaming platform Douyu to the forefront.
According to the Douyu announcement, the company learned on November 20, 2023 that Chen Shaojie, the CEO and Chairman of the Board, was arrested by the police on or around November 16, 2023. The company has not received any official notification regarding the reasons for Mr. Chen's investigation or arrest
Meanwhile, the company is unable to comment on the nature or expected timeline of potential legal proceedings that may follow; The coercive measures being taken against Mr. Chen, as well as any subsequent legal proceedings and coercive measures against relevant parties, may have a significant adverse impact on the company's reputation, business, and operational results.
The company maintains the normal operation of its business and continues to be committed to maintaining its platform in compliance with regulatory requirements. The board of directors and management will oversee the company's operations and develop emergency plans to respond to Mr. Chen's arrest and related investigations.
The Daily Economic News reporter immediately contacted Douyu for more information. Douyu related staff stated that everything is subject to the announcement.
The impact of Chen Shaojie's arrest by the police on the Douyu and game live streaming industries is unknown, but the capital market has taken the lead in responding. As of the close of local time on the 21st, Douyu's stock price closed at $0.905, a decrease of 5.93%, leaving a total market value of only $289 million, more than 90% lower than its previous high of over $20.
It was reported missing half a month ago
At that time, the company used to say "there was no such thing at all"
As early as half a month ago in early November, there were media reports that Douyu Board Chairman and CEO Chen Shaojie had recently lost contact, and there were also reports that he had been out of contact for three weeks. On the afternoon of November 6th, a reporter from Daily Economic News arrived at Douyu's Wuhan office, which is located at the New Development International Center in Optics Valley.
In Building B of the New Development International Center, an employee told reporters that the R&D department is mainly working here. The employee stated that he has rarely seen Chen Shaojie since coming to the company for several years, after all, he is only a low-level employee and usually does not see senior management. Another employee told reporters that everyone is currently working normally and their salaries are being paid normally.
One of the aforementioned Douyu employees told reporters that the company's brand promotion and other departments mainly work in Building A of the New Development International Center, including the front desk in Building A. Subsequently, the reporter arrived at the 23rd floor of Building A of the New Development International Center. At the Douyu front desk, the Daily Economic News reporter met an employee and after revealing his identity as a journalist, the reporter expressed his desire to verify whether Chen Shaojie had lost contact.
After waiting for about half an hour, a woman who introduced herself as a company public relations personnel received the reporter. Regarding the statement that "Douyu insiders have confirmed the news of Chen Shaojie's loss of contact" from the outside world, the aforementioned person stated that there is no such thing at all. "We have not received any demand for interviews
When the reporter suggested that Chen Shaojie could appear to dispel external doubts. The above public relations personnel stated that Chen Shaojie should have an external response, but the specific arrangements will still depend on the opinions of the company's superiors. Within the month, the company will release its third quarter report. Generally speaking, Chen Shaojie will attend and everyone can follow.
However, the above-mentioned public relations personnel also stated that today's communication with the reporter was private and there is currently no external statement, and internal verification is underway.
Douyu had suffered losses for several years before, but this year it has finally turned losses into profits
Industry: Live streaming is no longer considered a good track
According to public information, Chen Shaojie was born in 1984 in Jinan. Not long after he entered university, he dropped out of school and started his own business. He developed the "Master" game platform and sold it to Shanda, earning his first bucket of money.
In 2010, he bought the A station of "the originator of the anime website" in China, and incubated the "Health Release" channel. Four years later, he separated the "Live Broadcasting" channel from Station A and renamed it "Douyu TV".
In July 2019, Douyu was listed on NASDAQ with a market value of nearly $4 billion on that day. Chen Shaojie's personal wealth also skyrocketed. In October of that year, Chen Shaojie ranked 1507th on the 2019 Hurun Rich List with a fortune of 2.5 billion yuan. On October 12, 2020, Huya Douyu officially signed a merger agreement, and Chen Shaojie will become the co CEO of the merged company. Chen Shaojie will also become the tenth member of Huya's board of directors.
However, since the merger of Tiger Fang and Douyu failed, the "days" of game live streaming platforms have become difficult. As a top game live streaming platform, the revenue scale of Douyu from 2020 to 2022 was 9.6 billion yuan, 9.1 billion yuan, and 7.1 billion yuan, respectively, with a significant decline; The net profit has also suffered losses for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, with the assistance of cost reduction and efficiency improvement, Douyu achieved a turnaround from losses to profits.
As the CEO of a listed company, Chen Shaojie has not made many public appearances in recent years. The last time he appeared in public view was on August 14th this year when he attended a conference call for second quarter financial analysts. During a conference call, Chen Shaojie commented on his performance and stated that the company continues to be committed to its core strategy - building a vibrant, game centric content ecosystem; Stable business development will enhance Douyu's competitive advantage and leading position in the domestic game content industry.
In recent years, throughout the entire game live streaming track, from the "Thousand Broadcast Battle" to the failure and exit of established platforms such as National Live, Panda, and tentacles, to the failure of the merger of Tiger Teeth and Douyu, and the exit of Penguin Esports, the once popular game live streaming track seems to have entered a bottleneck period. On the one hand, there are very few "old players" left, and Tiger Fang and Douyu have returned to the arena; On the other hand, new players such as short video platforms have entered the game.
As early as 2022, a senior industry insider told the Daily Economic News reporter that as an investment track, game live streaming is no longer considered a good track because it is relatively mature, and the shares and advantages of each platform are relatively fixed.