DeepSeek co-founder's scandal exit | Generated by AI
Question: Who is DeepSeek co-founder Xu Jin, and why did he leave?
Answer:
Xu Jin is a co-founder of High-Flyer (幻方量化), the quant hedge fund that is DeepSeek’s parent company — not a founder of DeepSeek itself (that’s Liang Wenfeng). Here’s the full context:
Background
Liang Wenfeng combined AI with quantitative trading and founded Jacobi Investment with Xu Jin, a fellow Zhejiang University alumnus. They co-founded Hangzhou Huanfang Technology in 2015, later renamed Zhejiang Jiuzhang Asset Management, and the following year established Ningbo Huanfang Quantitative Investment Management — today’s High-Flyer.
So Xu Jin and Liang Wenfeng were college friends who built the quant fund empire together from the start. Xu Jin was a senior partner and portfolio manager, not involved in DeepSeek’s AI research side.
Why He Left
In October 2023, High-Flyer suspended co-founder Xu Jin from work due to his “improper handling of a family matter” and “a negative impact on the company’s reputation,” following a social media accusation post and a subsequent divorce court case filed by Xu Jin’s wife regarding his extramarital affair.
In short: an extramarital affair scandal, publicly exposed by his wife on Chinese social media, which then escalated into a divorce court case. High-Flyer used the vague corporate phrase “improper handling of a family matter” in their official statement.
After the Departure
Two products previously managed by Xu Jin still increased by an average of 58.6% in 2025 under new management, showing the fund continued performing well without him.
Key clarification for you: Xu Jin had no role in DeepSeek’s AI work — that’s entirely Liang Wenfeng’s domain. DeepSeek was spun off from High-Flyer in mid-2023 precisely as a separate AI research lab, and Xu Jin was already being pushed out around that same time due to the scandal. The two events overlapped in timing but are unrelated.