Dentsu Digital team was dismissed: employees collectively reported CEO Zhang Zhexiang for bribing GAC executives

On January 8, it was reported that the Guangzhou branch of Dentsu Digital (hereinafter referred to as Dentsu Digital), a famous advertising company serving GAC, had a sudden personnel "earthquake". In the early morning of that day, the entire team received resignation requests from dentsu X CEO Zhang Zhexiang and his main force Maruyama Hiroyuki, and were collectively fired. On the 13th, a letter of complaint written to the GAC Discipline Inspection Department and the Business Opportunity Discipline Inspection Department circulated on the Internet, pointing out that Zhang Zhexiang and Maruyama Hiroyuki had bribed GAC executives, bullied female employees in the workplace, and insulted female employees, which seemed to explain the reason for the personnel changes at Dentsu Digital.

It is reported that as a long-term advertising service provider of GAC Group, Dentsu Digital Team has just won the entire advertising case for the automaker's major new car.

At this juncture, all team members received a resignation request from the company's CEO and a notification email from HR that they had signed a "Consultative Termination of Employment Contract Agreement", which caused an uproar in the industry. In the face of communication requests from multiple media outlets, Dentsu Digital and its parent company ignored them all and never made a positive response to the incident.

The exposure of the report letter changed the nature of the incident.

The report letter pointed out that Zhang Zhexiang colluded with Li Liang and others from GAC Group to enter a large number of false investments and suppliers, defrauded the company's funds, and used false accounts to hide profits. The tax paid by Dentsu Digital Guangzhou Branch has dropped by 90% since 2019; Zhang Zhexiang repeatedly bullied Chinese employees in front of Japanese visitors to China, and asked the company's front-line employees to please the Japanese personnel of GAC Group through bribery, drinking, and romantic transactions; the report letter stated that there were also a large number of acts of insulting Chinese female employees, which were difficult to mention in the letter.

At the end of the letter, the whistleblower expressed his willingness to report in real name and bear the subsequent consequences. The signatories included Wang Tao, head of GAC Toyota Business Unit, Yang Jingwen, former head of GAC Honda Business Unit, Shen Qiyu, former head of GAC Trumpchi Business Unit, and media managers Li Jie, Ma Chao, and Fang Yixiao.

If the report is true, Zhang Zhexiang is suspected of violating the criminal law. Dentsu Digital will face the dilemma of criminal prosecution of senior executives and collective dismissal of employees. GAC Group may also have to find another partner for its new car advertising while senior executives are suspected of bribery by non-public officials.

According to the risk information from Qichacha, Dentsu Digital was listed on the abnormal operation list twice for failing to disclose its annual report within the time limit prescribed by the Interim Regulations on the Disclosure of Enterprise Information.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.