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After a $4.4 billion IPO, the founders of Didi, a Chinese ride-hailing company, are looking to expand globally.
On April 23, 2018, the logo of Didi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing company, is shown at their new drivers center in Toluca, Mexico. Carlos Jasso/Reuters
Sun, June 30, 2021, Julie Zhu, Yilei
Will Wei Cheng has overcome numerous obstacles on his way to bringing Didi Global Inc public in a $4.4 billion New York float, from working at a foot massage company to founding China’s largest ride-hailing startup.
Cheng faced difficult competition, strong criticism for Didi following rape and murder cases linked to its drivers in 2018, and a COVID-19-induced slowdown at home as he advanced to the top echelons of Chinese technology entrepreneurs.
While Cheng and co-founder Jean Qing Liu are celebrating the largest share sale by a Chinese business in the United States in seven years, which values Didi at $67.5 billion, analysts warn the issues are unlikely to go away very soon.
As they set out to develop Didi abroad, the duo will be put to the test on their capacity to reverse losses that increased last year owing to the epidemic and deal with regulatory scrutiny amid an antitrust crackdown at home.
Employees and investors at Didi stated Cheng has a strategic eye, is quiet confident, and hardworking. Cheng is a micromanager, according to some, and his managerial style might be harsh.
Neil Shen, the founder and managing partner of Sequoia Capital China, a Didi investor, said, “When there is a Will, there is a Way.”
“We look forward to building a better world of future mobility with Didi and its hundreds of millions of users.”
Cheng, 38, who likes polo shirts and Chinese history and military literature, was hoping for a $100 billion valuation for Didi, according to Reuters.
According to a top Didi insider, Cheng’s concentration on his status among his generation of entrepreneurs led to this goal. He hasn’t given up his combative position yet, according to the source.
“He is really determined to turn Didi into a worldwide corporation with a market value of $200 billion,” said the source, who declined to be identified because he was not permitted to speak to the media.
Didi’s founders lowered their IPO valuation aim as investors shied away from the $100 billion target, fearing that future ride-sharing restrictions would stifle the company’s growth prospects.
There was also doubt about the impact of Didi’s antitrust investigation, which was published by Reuters.
Didi and its founders did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Didi, which was founded in Beijing in 2012, intends to be a worldwide technology company, according to Cheng and Liu, who said in the IPO prospectus that the business model was applicable in areas including as Latin America, Russia, and South Africa.
It already has a stranglehold on the ride-hailing market in China, having pushed Uber out after the latter lost a price fight and ended up selling its Chinese operations to Didi for a share in 2016.
In China, Didi competes with ride-hailing services provided by automakers like Geely and SAIC Motor.
Uber has a presence in Europe and South America, where it is expanding.
Didi will make its debut on Wednesday morning New York time, backed by SoftBank Group Corp, Tencent Holdings Ltd, and Alibaba Group.
Cheng and Liu are a couple.
Cheng was born in a rural hamlet in the Chinese province of Jiangxi in 1983.
He worked as an assistant to the chairman of a foot massage company after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in administration from Beijing University of Chemical Technology.
He started with Alibaba as a salesperson in 2005 and rose through the ranks to become a senior management before launching Didi.
Cheng, the current CEO of Didi, says the idea for a ride-hailing network came to him on a cold winter night in Beijing when he couldn’t find a taxi.
Cheng was joined by Liu, a former Goldman Sachs banker who is now the president of Didi, in 2014.
Liu, a Harvard alumnus, has played a crucial role in Didi’s important financial choices, including the company’s 2015 merger with Alibaba-backed Kuaidi, the acquisition of Uber’s China division, and fundraising from investors such as Apple Inc.
Liu, 43, is the company’s external communications representative, especially during times of crisis.
After two murder and rape incidents involving Didi’s Hitch carpooling service drivers in 2018, which the founders described as their “darkest days,” she became the company’s face.
She also contributes to Didi’s safety procedure overhaul.
Reuters
Didi Didi’s Initial Public Offering
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Markets & Initial Public Offerings
Didi, the Chinese ride-hailing behemoth, has raised $4 billion in its initial public offering in the United States.
SoftBank, Uber Technologies Inc, and Tencent are among the company’s major sponsors.
Markets & Initial Public Offerings
The mammoth IPO of Didi Chuxing is expected to increase the number of Chinese companies listed in the United States.
In the first half of this year, Chinese companies raised $7.6 billion through 29 initial public offerings in the United States.
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