Chinese billionaire Larry Xiangdong Chen loses $14 billion since January

Larry Xiangdong Chen, the CEO of Chinese online education firm GSX Techedu, has seen his net worth tumble by billions, and is closing in on losing his billionaire status.

Larry Xiangdong Chen, who was once a school teacher at an impoverished Chinese village, is the founder and chairman of GSX Techedu, a U.S.-listed education firm that went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019.

The shares of his company GSX Techedu, which provides online educational courses up to 12th grade in China, has seen 88% fall since January, wiping almost US$14 billion from his net worth.

On Wednesday alone, GSX Techedu Inc. fell 4% in New York trading after Goldman Sachs Group Inc downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy” and drastically cut its price target from $60 to $20 on expected slower enrollment and revenue growth.

Larry Xiangdong Chen currently owns 43.5% of GSX Techedu’s shares outstanding and his net worth peaked at $15.85 billion on January 27. Chen now has a net worth of $1.9 billion.