Cheng Wei

In this Chinese name, the family name is Cheng (程).
Cheng Wei
(程维)
Cheng in 2017
Born (1983-05-19) 19 May 1983 (age 41)
Shangrao, China
EducationBeijing University of Chemical Technology
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder, chairman and CEO of DiDi
Founder of Beijing Xiaoju Technology Ltd.

Cheng Wei (simplified Chinese: 程维; traditional Chinese: 程維; pinyin: Chéng Wéi; born 19 May 1983) is a Chinese billionaire businessman.[1] He is the founder, chairman and CEO of DiDi, a Chinese mobile transportation platform with global operations.[2] In 2012, after eight years at Alibaba Group's regional and Alipay's operations, Cheng founded Beijing Xiaoju Technology Co Ltd in Zhongguancun.[3]

Biography

Cheng was born in 1983 in Jiangxi, China.[1] He received a bachelor's degree in administration from Beijing University of Chemical Technology.[4][5][1]

After graduation, Cheng served as an assistant to a chairman at a foot massage company. About one year later, Cheng applied to join Alibaba as a sales person for its business-to-business e-commerce service in 2005.[1]

For six years at Alibaba, Cheng served as a sales manager for the northern region of China. He later moved to China's largest third-party online payment platform, Alipay, where he was soon promoted to the position of regional manager.[4][6]

In 2012, Cheng left Alibaba to found Beijing Xiaoju Technology Co and launch Didi Dache—translated to "Beep Beep Call a Taxi"—as the initial incarnation of his ride-hailing service.[1]

In 2014, Cheng hired Jean Liu (Liu Qing), a former Goldman Sachs Asia managing director, as the COO of the company.[6]

In February 2015, the company merged with its rival Kuaidi Dache and was renamed Didi Kuaidi (later renamed Didi Chuxing or “DiDi”).[7]

In August 2016, DiDi acquired all assets of the Chinese division of Uber.[8]

Since the company was founded in 2012, under the leadership of Cheng Wei and Jean Liu, DiDi has grown to become one of the world’s highest valued tech start-ups.[9]

Other activities

In September 2015, Cheng was selected as a co-chair of the Summer Davos in Asia: Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2015.[10]

Published work

  • DiDi: The Sharing Economy is Changing China co-authored by Jean Liu and Zhang Xiaofeng, ed. Posts & Telecom Press, June 2016.[11]

Prizes

  • 2019: Fortune China’s list of 50 Most Influential Business Leaders[12]
  • 2018: 50 Most influential business leaders in China by Forbes China[13]
  • 2017: 50 Most Influential Business Leaders by Fortune China[14]
  • 2017: Global Game Changers by Forbes[15]
  • 2017: 20 Most Influential People in Tech list by the Time magazine[16]
  • 2016: Businessperson of the Year by Fortune magazine[17] and Forbes Asia's Businessman of the Year[18]
  • 2016: Wired 100 List.[19]
  • 2015: "Top 10 Economic Influencers of China" by Sina.com.[20]
  • 2015: "40 under 40" list by Fortune magazine.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Uber Has Always Looked Unstoppable. Then It Went to China". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  2. ^ 宋丽. "Didi Chuxing receives $600m investment from China Life Insurance - Business - Chinadaily.com.cn". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  3. ^ Beijing, Paul Carsten (2016-08-11). "Didi's Cheng Wei: Chinese patriot who tamed Uber". Reuters. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  4. ^ a b Kong, Eva Dou in Beijing and Juro Osawa in Hong (2016-08-17). "How Uber Rival's Founder Won Friends and Influenced Beijing". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  5. ^ "Cheng Wei". Executives in technology. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  6. ^ a b "The Early Wisdom of Didi Founder Cheng Wei". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  7. ^ Wong, Gillian (2015-02-14). "Tencent, Alibaba-Backed Chinese Taxi-Hailing Apps to Merge". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  8. ^ Beijing, Alyssa Abkowitz in; Kong, Rick Carew in Hong (1 August 2016). "Uber Sells China Operations to Didi Chuxing". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  9. ^ "Ranking of highest valued startup companies August 2016 | Statistic". Statista. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  10. ^ "Introducing the Co-Chairs of our meeting in China". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  11. ^ "《滴滴：分享经济改变中国》呈现互联网+2.0". book.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  12. ^ "50 of China's most influential business leaders in 2019". Fortune. April 15, 2019.
  13. ^ Dept., Forbes China Editorial. "2018 Forbes China 50 Most Innovative Companies (Full List)". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  14. ^ "2017中国最具影响力的50位商界领袖 - 财富中文网". www.fortunechina.com. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  15. ^ Gensler, Lauren. "The Global Game Changers List 2017: Evan Spiegel, Anne Wojcicki And Other Business Leaders Reshaping The World". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  16. ^ Pullen, Lisa Eadicicco, Alex Fitzpatrick, Matt Peckham, John Patrick. "The 20 Most Influential People in Tech Right Now". Time. Retrieved 2017-10-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Cheng Wei". Fortune. 2016-11-10. Archived from the original on 2017-03-04. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  18. ^ Wang, Yue. "Didi's Cheng Wei Is Forbes Asia's 2016 Businessman Of The Year". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  19. ^ "The Wired 100". Wired. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  20. ^ "2015十大经济年度人物隆重揭晓". Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  21. ^ "Fortune's 2016 40 Under 40". 2016-09-22. Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-10-05.