Chinese pop star Huang Zitao’s father, Huang Zhongdong, passed away today (Sep 11) at the age of 52. The entertainment label that he founded, L. TAO Entertainment, issued a statement confirming the news. Korean media has reported that he was suffering from a chronic illness.

The statement read, “While battling against his illness, [Zhongdong] encouraged his family and friends to focus on their work and to be optimistic. We are devastated by his passing.” They added that a simple wake and funeral will be held according to the late businessman’s wishes.

Zitao, 27, is expected to inherit a large amount of money from his father. The late Mr Huang shared in a 2016 interview that he owns four to five mansions in Qingdao alone, and that his Beijing company has assets of over 20bil yuan (S$4bil). Zhongdong was named the seventh richest man in Qingdao back in 1997, but has remained tight-lipped about the full extent of his wealth.

Zitao was really close to his father. Zhongdong started L. TAO Entertainment in 2018 after the singer left Korean entertainment label SM Entertainment and K-Pop group EXO. At the time, Zitao wrote, “All the hard work from the past was in preparation for today (…) Dad, I love you. It took 10 years for me to build up this company from my dreams, and I’ll use the next 10 years to prove [what I’m made of].”

Photos: PBE Media

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