On the morning of July 27th, it was reported online that Wang Linpeng, the controlling shareholder of China’s leading home furnishings retail giant “Juran Smart Home” (formerly Juran Home), had jumped to his death. Several industry insiders have confirmed this news. This marks the second home furnishings boss to fall from a building in just 10 days, sparking turmoil within the industry.
According to an article published on the “Ceramic Information” WeChat public account, “It was reported online that Wang Linpeng, the controlling shareholder of Juran Smart Home (formerly Juran Home), had jumped to his death. Li Danfeng, a former senior executive of a building materials company who claimed to be familiar with Wang Linpeng and had dealings with him as a partner, sought confirmation from friends at Juran Home headquarters, confirming the tragic news and expressing condolences.”
In response to this, Juran Smart Home told First Financial, “Official announcements should be relied upon,” stating that they are currently “requesting supervision and will announce further details upon notification from the authorities.” Juran Smart Home personnel emphasized that the company’s operations are normal at present, with the chairman’s duties being temporarily assumed by the CEO.
On July 28th, Juran Smart Home opened with a significant drop in its stock price, hitting the limit down at one point. By the end of the morning session, the stock price had fallen by 8.23%, closing at 2.90 yuan per share, with a total market value of 18.1 billion yuan, evaporating approximately 1.6 billion yuan.
On April 18th of this year, Juran Smart Home announced that its actual controller, Chairman, and CEO Wang Linpeng had been placed under detention and investigation by the Supervisory Committee of Jianghan District, Wuhan City. The following day, Juran Smart Home’s stock opened with a limit-down. The announcement indicated that Wang Linpeng’s holding of more than 372 million shares of the company had been judicially frozen, including 279 million shares of restricted shares held by executives, with the freezing starting on April 17, 2025.
After three months of detention, on July 23rd, Juran Smart Home issued another announcement stating that Wang Linpeng’s detention measures had been lifted, changing to an obligation to await further investigation, and Wang Linpeng had returned to his normal job position.
Just when the outside world thought that Wang Linpeng was in the clear, he tragically jumped to his death. From the lifting of detention to his death, only four days had passed.
Regarding this incident, a highly followed Weibo user, “Fei Xing Zhu Hua,” analyzed that there were three main reasons leading to Wang Linpeng’s jump: firstly, the sword of justice was hanging over him, with the case unresolved, 8.99% of equity was frozen, and family members and executives were implicated; secondly, the business collapsed, with a store leasing rate of 78% -> wave of withdrawals; investing 4 billion in three years for the transition to smart homes, with new profit margins at 15% vs the old 63%, the company continued to bleed; thirdly, emotional breakdown caused by a 243 billion loss of net worth in five years and an 80% decline in stock price, shifting from “richest” to “negative example.”
Wang Linpeng, 56, hailing from Hubei Huanggang, has held positions in the Department of Commerce Finance and Accounting Division, China Commercial Enterprise Group, and National Hualian Commercial Mansion Joint Limited Liability Company. In 2001, he became the CEO of Beijing Juran Home Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., and in 2015, he acquired the controlling stake of Juran Home through concentrated share acquisitions. In 2018, Wang Linpeng introduced 13 billion in capital from institutions such as Alibaba, Yunfeng Fund, and Taikang Life into Juran Home. In 2019, through backdoor listing with Wuhan Zhongshang on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Wang Linpeng became the richest man in Hubei on the 2019 Hurun Rich List with a net worth of 36.8 billion yuan.
Publicly available data shows that from opening the first store in 1999 until the end of October 2024, Juran Home had accumulated 405 home furnishing stores nationwide, 4 shopping centers, and 173 community supermarkets, with an annual sales volume exceeding 110 billion yuan, making it a leader in China’s home furnishings industry. At the end of 2024, the company changed its name to Juran Smart Home.
However, due to the prolonged downturn in the real estate market, Juran Smart Home’s business has been impacted, coupled with the company’s aggressive expansion, debt issues were becoming increasingly prominent, with short-term interest-bearing debts reaching as high as 4.726 billion yuan.
The news of Wang Linpeng’s death has sparked attention online.
Many netizens have expressed their thoughts, saying, “Who can withstand an investigation? My dad was a cadre, taken away by the procuratorate in the 90s, questioned for 24 hours, and came back afraid to be alone at home, eventually classified as a level 3 mental disorder.” “With the economy in a downturn, what’s said now is not just talk, like the butterfly effect slowly manifesting in various aspects, much like boiling a frog in warm water… scary.”
“The three paths for private entrepreneurs are richness, imprisonment, or suicide.” “Juran Home was originally a Beijing state-owned enterprise controlled by Hualian Shopping Center. Wang Linpeng was sent by Hualian to steer Juran Home. Before the introduction of Alibaba, the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the China Hualian Union Group were the real behind-the-scenes bosses of Juran. In recent years, ownership has changed again, with the Beijing State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission still holding the majority of the shares. Therefore, Juran Home is not a genuine private enterprise.”
Recently, several entrepreneurs have tragically died by suicide.
On July 17th, Zeng Yu Zhou, the founder of the “Guangzhou home furnishings giant” Jing Home, jumped to his death, leading the company to halt operations and undergo bankruptcy settlement.
On June 2nd, Liu Wenchao, Chairman of Xizi Elevator, fell from a building to his death at the age of 54.
On April 16th, Bi Guangjun, Chairman of Jindianzi, aged 56, also tragically jumped to his death.
Source: Epoch Times, July 28, 2025