Photo:VCG

Gossip surrounding the divorce of online Chinese bookstore Dangdang's founders and executives, a couple named Li Guoqing and Yu Yu, has been erupting on the internet since Wednesday night. Rumors include the couple accusing one another of duplicity and accusations of one leading a chaotic private life.

Alleged screenshots of Yu Yu accusing Li, who reportedly left Dangdang in February, of being an irresponsible father and an irritable leader in their company, have been trending as hot topics on China's social media platforms Weibo and WeChat. Other private information concerning Li's alleged sexuality and history of sexually transmitted disease has also stirred discussions among netizens.

Li responded Thursday through Weibo that Yu has been spreading slander regarding his personal life and noted that he has evidence of Yu's affairs.

On Thursday afternoon, Li said on Weibo that he would not agree to Yu's divorce condition which would allot him 25 percent of the company's stock equity. He stated that he had founded Dangdang and asked for half of stock equity. Media reports included another alleged screenshot of Li saying that he is more suited to heterosexual marriage in response to reportedly Yu's earlier statement that he was a gay man.

Li and Yu, ranked 573rd on the Hurun Rich List 2019 with a fortune of 7 billion yuan ($991 million), up 8 percent over the previous year, receive their income mainly from Dangdang, media reported.

As one of the early internet enterprises in China, the company began as an online book store and later developed into a comprehensive e-commerce platform. It went public in 2010 in New York, but the operation soon began to encounter hardship shortly after.

Contradictory reports of Li and Yu have drawn attention since last year, and Li reportedly left Dangdang early this year. In a recent interview, Li told media that he had been forced out of the company by Yu.