After the sudden death of Tang Xiao’ou, co-founder of the artificial intelligence (AI) giant SenseTime Group, its shares fell by 11% on the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEK). The facial recognition technology company is now trading at one fifth of its IPO value, its lowest offering since publicly launching on 31 December 2021.
SenseTime Group co-founder’s death causes shares to plummet
Tang (55 y/o), who passed away on Friday 15 December from an undisclosed illness, was previously the company’s dominant class A shareholder and in charge of the company’s voting structure. SenseTime will now need to regroup and navigate this sudden challenge while mourning the loss of their voting leadership.
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In a press release on the HKEK, SenseTime announced the ceasing of Tang’s 6.9 billion class A shares. The company also added that the class A shares will potentially be converted on an individual basis into class B shares and will remain locked up until December 2024.
The SenseTime filing issued on the HKEK before the market opening on Monday 18th stated:
The passing of Professor Tang is not expected to have a material adverse impact on the daily management and the ordinary business activities of the company.
In November 2023, a short-seller report accused SenseTime of questionable business practices and accounting methods. The company responded by dubbing the report as “misleading” and full of inclusive “interpretations.” The SenseTime Group stock is down by almost 50% compared to December 2022.
