China’s top live-streaming influencer Dong Yuhui departs East Buy to pursue own venture

East Buy CEO Michael Yu Minhong said he will make arrangements for Dong Yuhui to obtain his namesake venture, Time with Yuhui, for free

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English-language-tutor-turned-live-streaming-star Dong Yuhui is striking out on his own. Photo: Weibo

Published: 9:38pm, 25 Jul 2024Updated: 11:04pm, 25 Jul 2024

China’s top live-streaming influencer, Dong Yuhui, has left East Buy, the e-commerce arm of private tutoring giant New Oriental Education & Technology Group, marking one of the most striking exits in the sector and sending the US-listed parent’s shares down in pre-trading.

The 31-year-old Dong, a former teacher who gained fame and wealth in China’s live-streaming e-commerce sector, left his employer because of “career aspirations, commitment to his other pursuits and personal time arrangements”, Hong Kong-listed East Buy said in a filing on Thursday. Dong’s resignation is effective immediately.

As part of that departure, East Buy agreed to sell Dong’s namesake venture – called Time with Yuhui – to the influencer for 76.6 million yuan (US$10.5 million), according to a separate filing.

But East Buy chief executive Michael Yu Minhong said in a separate statement that he would make arrangements for Dong’s payment, so the influencer can walk away with his namesake venture for free.

Michael Yu Minhong, the founder and president of New Oriental Education & Technology Group, as well as chief executive of subsidiary East Buy. Photo: Weibo

In his post on ByteDance-owned Douyin, the Chinese sister app of TikTok, Dong said Time with Yuhui will soon start to run as an independent business.

Following the disclosure of Dong’s departure, Nasdaq-listed New Oriental saw its shares fall by up to 8 per cent in pre-trading on Thursday. East Buy said it plans to buy back up to 500 million yuan of shares over a one-year period.