Hong Kong/Beijing/New York — Joyy’s shares tumbled the most ever after short-seller Muddy Waters Research called it a “fraud tech company”, casting doubt over a pioneer of Chinese livestreaming that’s selling its local video business to Baidu.

Muddy Waters founder Carson Block said Joyy’s livestreaming service YY is “guilty of bot forming, creating fake transactions and having fake users”. The report, published on Wednesday, came days after Baidu agreed to buy YY for $3.6bn. Baidu representatives had no immediate comment while Joyy spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.