(Beijing Comprehensive News) After the unexpected death of HNA Group co-founder and chairman Wang Jian, the company's heavy responsibility to deal with liquidity challenges fell on the shoulders of the newly elected chairman of the board of directors Chen Feng.
Based on reports from Bloomberg, China News Agency, etc., HNA Group announced yesterday that on the 5th of this month, the board of directors reviewed, voted and elected the chairman of the board of directors, Chen Feng, as the chairman of the board of directors.
Chen Feng was born in June 1953 in Huozhou, Shanxi.He is the co-founder of HNA Group and has served as the chairman of the board of directors of HNA Group since 2000.
According to the official website of HNA Group, Chen Feng graduated from the Lufthansa School of Transport Management in Germany and received a master's degree in business administration from the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands.He also received a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Management from Harvard Business School in the United States.
Wang Jian, co-founder and former chairman of HNA Group, accidentally fell during a business inspection in France and was seriously injured. After rescue efforts failed, he passed away on the 3rd of this month at the age of 57.
HNA Group is now among the most heavily indebted companies in China.The group's financial woes began to emerge in the middle of last year, after HNA's takeover spree in recent years, when the Chinese government began scrutinizing acquirers including HNA, Dalian Wanda Group and Anbang Insurance Group.
HNA's interim report showed its interest expense topping the list of non-financial companies in Asia, a trend that has continued throughout 2017, as borrowing costs soared.
HNA's latest annual report showed the group had more than US$90 billion (S$122 billion) in debt.
HNA has disposed of more than $16 billion in assets so far this year, including a multibillion-dollar stake in Hilton Worldwide.
