I’ve heard of VCs leaving their firms to join other firms. Or leaving to pursue an alternate career. Or leaving “to spend more time with his family,” which usually is polite code for being terminated.
But I’ve never heard of a VC getting up, giving up everything and impulsively eloping with his mistress. But that’s what appears to have happened with Wang Gongquan, founder of China-based CDH Ventures.
Gongquan uses a Chinese micro-blogging service called Weibo, on which he recently posted the following messages: “Relatives, friends and fellow colleagues, I have given up everything and eloped with Wang Qin… I cannot face all your expectations and trust, don’t know how to explain. Beg your forgiveness… There are so many appointments and responsibilities that I cannot make, so I will not turn on my mobile phone just yet. I don’t care if my reputation is ruined.”
This apparently followed a series of public messages to Wang Qin, who reportedly is the founder of Jiangsu Zhongfu Science and Technology Industrial Group (note: Wang Qin also is a name used in a popular Internet scam). Oh, did I mention that Gongquan was already married?
Reports out of China suggest that CDH is trying to calm nervous limited partners, since Gongquan was listed as a key man. There also is a bit of speculation that this is some sort of publicity stunt, although it is entirely unclear why a successful VC would want such unflattering attention.
Prior to founding CDH Venture in 2005, Gongquan was a general partner with IDG Technology Venture Investment.