The chairman of the embattled Chinese HNA Group, that owns big stakes in Hilton hotels and Deutsche Bank has died in France. Wang Jian suffered 15 meters fall, while posing for a photograph, the police said.
The tragedy occurred on Tuesday in the popular tourist village of Bonnieux, near Avignon in the French south-east. Wang’s death appeared to be accidental lieutenant-colonel Hubert Meriaux at the Vaucluse gendarmerie told Reuters.
“He stood on the edge of a sharp drop to get his family to take a picture of him and fell,” Meriaux said. The businessman suffered a 15-meter fall and crashed into the rocks below, dying of his injuries, he added. Another officer told South China Morning Post that an autopsy of Wang’s body has been carried out and revealed “nothing suspicious.”
HNA Group, in which Wang held a 15 percent stake, has confirmed the death of its chairman and switched its official website to monochrome in his honor.
“Together, we mourn the loss of an exceptionally gifted leader and role model, whose vision and values will continue to be a beacon for all who had the good fortune to know him, as well as for the many others whose lives he touched through his work and philanthropy,” the company said in a statement.
According to a pledge signed by the 12 stakeholders, Wang’s shares will now be split between the New York and Hainan branches of the Hainan Cihang Charity Foundation, which own the majority stake in the HNA Group.
