Bao Fan, the chairman and chief executive of China Renaissance investment bank, has gone missing, the firm said Friday.

"The company has been unable to contact Mr. Bao," China Renaissance said in an announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, without offering further details.

Local media reported that the 52-year-old billionaire has been unreachable for at least two days.

Shares in the firm slumped by as much as 50% following the statement.

Who is Bao Fan?
Bao is a major figure in the Chinese tech industry. He heads a boutique investment bank that was responsible for the initial public offers (IPO) of ride-hailing app Didi and e-commerce giant JD.com as well as several large mergers.

Bao worked for Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse before setting up China Renaissance in 2005 and listing it in Hong Kong in 2018.