(Yicai Global) June 29 -- There has been controversy around a large sale of JD.Com's  American depository shares, but the selloff is being conducted by employee shareholding platform Fortune Rising Holdings rather than the Chinese e-commerce giant’s chairman, The Paper reported today citing sources familiar with the matter.

Fortune Rising plans to sell 800,000 of JD’s US-listed shares [NASDAQ: JD] worth nearly USD27.9 million, with an expected sale date of June 30, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on June 27.

There had been concerns in the market that the sale was a move by Chairman Liu Qiangdong to cut his holding of JD shares. But information made public already showed that Liu only exercises voting rights on behalf of Fortune Rising, and he has no financial interest in the shares.

Fortune Rising has cut its stake in JD six times in the past three months, but on a much smaller scale. Each ADS in the company represents two Class A ordinary shares.

Liu had 12.7 percent of the company’s shares and 73.9 percent of the voting rights, JD’s annual trading report for 2022 showed.

Beijing-based JD is listed on the Nasdaq and in Hong Kong. Its Hong Kong-traded stock [HKG: 9618] closed down 3.7 percent at HKD132.90 (USD16.96) today. In New York yesterday, its shares fell 2.7 percent to USD34.79.

Editor: Tom Litting