DoNews reported on November 30 that while releasing the Q3 financial report, Pinduoduo announced that Dr. Lu Qi has resigned from the company’s board of directors, effective from November 28, 2023. Pinduoduo stated that Lu Qi’s resignation was not due to any differences with the company on business, finance, accounting or any other matters.
Public information shows that Lu Qi graduated from Fudan University with a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science. After graduating in 1987, he stayed at the school to teach. He then studied at Carnegie Mellon University and received a PhD in computer science.
In addition to publishing a series of high-quality research papers in academia, Dr. Lu Qi also holds more than 40 US patents. In July 2018, Lu Qi no longer served as the president and chief operating officer of Baidu Group. Previously, he also served as executive vice president of Yahoo and executive vice president of Microsoft.
On June 30, 2018, documents disclosed in Pinduoduo’s prospectus showed that Lu Qi will serve as Pinduoduo’s independent director and chairman of the remuneration committee. Lu Qi once led Pinduoduo’s technical advisory committee. As the person who once brought Baidu to a new peak in market value, Lu Qi has strength and influence that cannot be ignored in the technical system and even the entire Internet industry. He is currently the founder and CEO of Y Combinator (Qiji Chuangtan) China and the director of Y Combinator Global Research Institute.
It is understood that Pinduoduo’s board of directors currently consists of six directors, three of whom are independent directors. After Lu Qi leaves, Dr. Ivonne M.C.M. Rietjens joins the Audit Committee, Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors, and George Yong-Boon Yeo joins the Remuneration Committee of the Board of Directors, effective from November 28, 2023.
