Luckin Coffee's New CEO Responds to Joint Dismissal Request: 'Signatories Were Coerced'

Consumer Staples Author: 谢矩 Jan 07, 2021 12:40 AM (GMT+8)

The joint letter cited Guo Jinyi's many crimes, including using suppliers for corruption, abusing power to eradicate dissent, and reducing department staff numbers.

Ruixing

In the eyes of the outside world, Luckin Coffee, which had begun to return to the right track, has again exposed major problems.

On the evening of January 6, an anonymous user disclosed in Maimai that a total of 24 senior executives – from seven vice presidents, general managers to core business directors – had signed a joint letter, collectively demanding the removal of Guo Jingyi, the new chairman and CEO.

That night, Guo Jingyi issued a letter to all the staff, saying that the letter was drafted by Lu Zhengyao, Qian Zhiya and other organizations on January 3, and some of the staff involved were forced to sign because they did not know the truth. He also said, in the letter, "I have personally requested the board of directors to set up an investigation team on this in order to restore the truth. I have assured the board that I will not interfere with the work of the investigation team and will fully cooperate with the investigation."

The screenshot of the joint letter shows that the recipients of the letter are the board of directors of Luckin Coffee and Dazheng capital, the company's major shareholder. The joint letter cited Guo Jingyi's three major crimes, including: corruption, fraud, damage to the company's interest, abuse of power to dismiss dissenting staff.

The joint letter pointed out that due to Guo Jingyi's lack of morality and incompetence, the company has reached the brink of survival. In order to safeguard the interests of employees, consumers and investors, the board of directors and major shareholders solemnly request that the chairman and CEO of the company should be removed immediately.

At the end of the joint letter, there are 24 signatures and fingerprints, including 7 vice presidents and directors, as well as the general managers of each branch.

On January 31, 2020, Hunshui, a well-known short agency, claimed that it had received an 89-page anonymous short report, pointing out that Luckin's data was fake.

On April 2 of the same year, Luckin Coffee issued an announcement, admitting the false transaction of RMB 2.2 billion, and the share price plummeted by 80%. On May 12, the company announced that CEO Qian Zhiya and COO Liu Jian were suspended, and Guo Jingyi was appointed as acting CEO.

On May 19, Luckin Coffee received the request for delisting from the NASDAQ Exchange, and suspended trading on June 29 for the record.

On July 1 of that year, Luckin Coffee announced that its internal investigation had been basically completed: financial fraud began in April 2019. The net revenue of that year was about CNY 2.12 billion, and the costs and expenses were exaggerated by CNY 1.34 billion. Chairman Lu Zhengyao was also required to resign. On July 14, Luckin Coffee appointed Guo Jingyi as its chairman.

On December 24, 2020, the latest financials showed that during the first three quarters of 2020, the quarterly revenue was CNY 565 million, 980 million and 1145 million respectively, with a year-on-year growth of 18.1%, 49.9% and 35.8%. This makes many people think that it is on the right track.


The following is a screenshot of the joint letter issued by Luckin Coffee executives:

众高管关于罢免郭谨一瑞幸咖啡董事会主席和CEO的请求信