BEIJING, May 20 (TMTPOST)— Zuo Hui, founder and chairman of KE Holdings (“Beike”), has passed away at the age of 50 on May 20, 2021, less than a year after the leading online real estate platform in China launched US$2.1 billion listing in the United States last August. Born in 1971, Zuo is the youngest billionaire business leader in China’s real estate industry and holds 82.8% of the voting power after Beike’s IPO. His sudden death shocked investors for the company just posted revenue of US$3.2 billion with a significant 190% year-over-year increase in the first quarter. US-listed shares of Beike slumped as much as 9.6% in Thursday’s morning trading and closed nearly 0.9% lower. In the statement on Thursday, Beike disclosed Zuo died after unexpected worsening of unspecified illness. An insider of Beike told Chinese daily newspaper Wuhan Morning News that Zuo has died of lung cancer and “had developed the cancer for some time”. Back in 2013, Zuo had an operation for lunch caner which removed one third of his lung, according to information disclosure in Beike’s previous financing.