14 DAY TRIAL // Success is just another prerogative that can measure a person's life. As everything nowadays has a price, and I do mean everything, in order to mean something, the success must invariably be measured in money (yours), in which case you're an entrepreneur, or that which you make for others, that making you an employee.
Shawn Yang, the Chief Financial Officer of the Chinese search engine Baidu.com, has died in a tragic traffic accident on the 27th of December while on holiday in China, as some sources were quoted. He was the main artisan of the extremely successful IPO and NASDAQ listing of the dominant search engine of the country. The unhappy event was announced on the company's website on Sunday, but calls about further details to the headquarters went unanswered.
Baidu chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Robin Li, stated that "We are all completely shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic news. Shawn's leadership and vision helped transform Baidu into a leading US public company, and his presence will be greatly missed. Shawn was not only a tremendous leader within our company, but also a wonderful friend to us all. We extend our deepest sympathy and most sincere condolences to Shawn's family."
Wang's duties will be assumed on an interim basis by its senior management team, senior finance personnel included, according to the company statement issued on Sunday. Haoyu Shen, Vice President of business operation, will most likely oversee finance functions temporarily. The loss will not trouble the well going of the company in any other way except in the moral chapter, where all the employees' sentiment is likely to be negative in the near-term, as analyst Dick Wei wrote.
According to the research firm Analysys International, Baidu dominates Internet searches in China, with 60.5% of the market as of the third quarter, followed by Google, with 23.7%, and Yahoo!'s Chinese unit with 10.4%.