JD.Com Founder's Iron Grip, Legal Woes Leave Investors in Dark

Whenever a corporate leader faces claims of possible criminal wrongdoing, the ramifications are significant for employees, customers and shareholders. All the more so in the case of Richard Liu, the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of JD.com Inc., who enjoys an iron grip over voting shares and the company’s board, and owns the strategic assets of China’s largest e-commerce company after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The self-made billionaire took a major reputational hit this week as his mug shot from an arrest in a U.S. sexual misconduct case rifled around the internet.