Cheng Wei
Chinese billionaire businessman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Founder of Beijing Xiaoju Technology Ltd.
Cheng Wei 程维 | |
|---|---|
Cheng in 2017 | |
| Born | 19 May 1983 Shangrao, China |
| Education | Beijing University of Chemical Technology |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder, chairman and CEO of DiDi Founder of Beijing Xiaoju Technology Ltd. |
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]