IDG Capital Fires Manager in China After Sexual Messages Posted Online

(Reuters) — Venture capital firm IDG Capital has fired a top investment manager in China, following leaked messages on social media purporting to show he had made sexual advances toward several women in the course of his work.

Jiang Zuo, also known as Douglas Jiang, joined IDG in 2013 to lead the firm’s cryptocurrency investments.

In an internal email dated Tuesday and verified by Reuters, the firm said it fired the executive immediately after it found “his words and actions have seriously violated the values IDG represents and the ethical standards IDG requires.”

It did not give further details in the email.

The case emerged following a series of screenshots first leaked on WeChat, a Chinese social media app.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify the authenticity of the messages, nor could it reach Jiang for comment.

Several IDG employees and a company spokeswoman told Reuters that Jiang could not be reached by cellphone.

IDG will “improve its management system and enhance staff ethics to prevent similar events from happening,” the Beijing-based spokeswoman of the firm told Reuters.

Powerful men from Hollywood to Silicon Valley have been ensnared in the #MeToo movement, triggered by accusations by dozens of women of sexual misconduct by U.S. film producer Harvey Weinstein, but similar public cases in China remain rare due to cultural taboos and censorship.