About

Huandong Gao is highly experienced at heading legal teams, having first done so over a decade ago at international delivery company DHL. From his first leadership role with DHL, Gao moved through The Home Depot and InterContinental Hotels Group before being hired by his current company Yihaodian, an e-commerce operator previously owned by Wal-Mart. Having been in the role for four years, Gao is now general counsel and vice president and has been heavily involved in the business’ high profile transactions over the past few years. Firstly, in 2015, Walmart succeeded in increasing its majority stake in Yihaodian to 100%, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary. Secondly, in mid-2016, Gao’s expertise helped facilitate the sale of Yihaodian from Walmart to JD.com in return for a 5% stake in JD. This deal, valued at around $1.5bn was one of the most significant in China in the past year, and its complexity and scale meant a great deal of work for Gao and his team. The successful navigation of this issue shows the level at which Gao and his team are able to operate.