From working at a foot therapeutic massage firm to organising China‘s greatest ride-hailing agency, Will Wei Cheng has navigated a number of hurdles on the trail to taking Didi International Inc public in a $4.4-billion New York float.
As Cheng rose to the higher echelons of Chinese language know-how entrepreneurs, he confronted challenges together with powerful competitors, intense criticism for Didi after rape and homicide instances linked to its drivers in 2018, and a COVID-19 induced slowdown at dwelling.
Whereas the most important share sale by a Chinese language firm in america in seven years, which values Didi at $67.5 billion, is a giant win for Cheng and co-founder Jean Qing Liu, consultants say the challenges are unlikely to go away quickly.
The duo will now be examined on their potential to stem losses that widened final 12 months because of the pandemic and deal with regulatory scrutiny amid an antitrust crackdown at dwelling as they set about increasing Didi globally.
Cheng has a strategic eye, is quietly assured and arduous working, Didi staff and buyers mentioned. Some added Cheng is a micro-manager and his administration type could possibly be cut-throat.
“When there’s a Will, there’s a method,” mentioned Neil Shen, founder and managing associate of Sequoia Capital China, a Didi investor.
“Along with Didi and its a whole lot of thousands and thousands of customers, we look ahead to creating a greater world of future mobility.”
Cheng, 38, who favours polo shirts and Chinese language historical past and army books, was initially eyeing a valuation of as much as $100 billion for Didi, Reuters has reported.
That concentrate on was a results of Cheng specializing in his standing in his technology of entrepreneurs, mentioned a senior Didi supply. He isn’t giving up his aggressive stance but, the supply added.
“He’s very eager to construct Didi into a world firm with a market worth of $200 billion,” mentioned the supply, who didn’t need to be named as he was not allowed to speak to media.
Didi founders trimmed their valuation goal for the IPO as buyers baulked on the $100 billion goal amid considerations that better regulation of the ride-sharing sector sooner or later may curb the corporate’s development prospects.
There was additionally uncertainty over how an antitrust probe into Didi, revealed by Reuters, would affect the corporate.
Didi and its founders didn’t reply to a Reuters request for remark.
Launched in Beijing in 2012, Didi aspires to grow to be a world know-how firm, Cheng and Liu wrote within the IPO prospectus, saying the enterprise mannequin was related in markets together with Latin America, Russia and South Africa.
It already dominates the ride-hailing trade at dwelling since efficiently pushing Uber out after the U.S. firm misplaced a value conflict and ended up promoting its China operations to Didi for a stake in 2016.
Didi competes with ride-hailing companies by automakers corresponding to Geely and SAIC Motor in China.
In Europe and South America, the place it’s increasing, Uber has a presence.
Didi, backed by SoftBank Group Corp, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group, is because of debut on Wednesday morning New York time.
CHENG AND LIU
Cheng was born in 1983 in a small city within the southeastern Chinese language province of Jiangxi.
After graduating from Beijing College of Chemical Expertise with a bachelor’s diploma in administration, he labored as an assistant to the chairman of a foot therapeutic massage firm.
He joined Alibaba as a gross sales individual in 2005 and later turned a senior supervisor on the agency earlier than beginning Didi.
Cheng, at present CEO of Didi, says he bought the thought for a ride-hailing platform on a freezing winter evening in Beijing when he had bother getting a taxi.
In 2014, Cheng was joined by Liu, a former Goldman Sachs banker and the present president of Didi.
Liu, a Harvard alumna, has been deeply concerned in Didi’s key monetary selections together with its merger with Alibaba-backed Kuaidi in 2015, takeover of Uber’s China enterprise and fundraising from buyers together with Apple Inc.
Liu, 43, represents the corporate in exterior communications, particularly throughout crises.
She was the face of Didi after two homicide and rape instances associated to its Hitch carpooling service drivers in 2018, which the founders described as their “darkest days”.
She additionally works on Didi’s redesign of security course of.
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