Yao resigned due to “personal reasons”, effective immediately, Jupai said in a statement.
A Jupai spokesman said Yao will join an undisclosed real estate firm as a director.
Yao joined Jupai in July 2012 as the CEO and later served as a director and COO, according to previous company filings. Prior to that, he served as a vice general manager at Singapore Yanlord Land Group from September 1996 to June 2012.
Liqun Wang, an independent director and also a member of the audit committee of the board, also left due to “personal reasons”, effective immediately, according to the statement.
The firm announces its 2016 full-year earnings today.
Management reshuffle
Replacements for the roles were made internally and a top management reshuffle is underway, all effective immediately.
According to the statement:
Liang Li becomes the COO and no longer serves as the president.
Hongchao Zhu, currently an independent director of the firm, has been appointed as a member of the audit committee.
Co-founder Tianxiang Hu has been appointed co-chairman and CEO and no longer serves as executive chairman.
Jianda Ni was appointed as co-chairman and executive chairman. He originally served as CEO of the firm.
Jupai was founded in 2010 and diversified into asset management in 2013 by setting up Juzhou Asset Management. It was listed in the New York Stock Exchange in July 2015.
The firm also opened a Hong Kong office last year.
Jupai and Noah Holdngs are the only two China-based wealth management firms publicly-listed in the US.
