Cheng Wei (; born 19 May 1983) is a Chinese
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
businessman.
He is the founder, chairman and CEO of
DiDi, a Chinese mobile transportation platform with global operations. In 2012, after eight years at
Alibaba Group's regional and
Alipay's operations, Cheng founded Beijing Xiaoju Technology Co Ltd in
Zhongguancun
Zhongguancun () is a major technology hub in Haidian District, Beijing, China.
Zhongguancun occupies a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road, in the northwestern part of Beijing. Zhongguancun is ...
.
Biography
Cheng was born in 1983 in
Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
, China.
He received a bachelor's degree in administration from
Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT, ), colloquially known in Chinese as Beihua (北化, ''Běihuà'') or Huada (化大, ''Huàdà''), is a public technological university in mainland China. BUCT was founded in 1958 and is a part ...
.
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.
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.
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.
In 2014, Cheng hired Jean Liu (
Liu Qing), a former
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
Asia managing director, as the COO of the company.
In February 2015, the company merged with its rival Kuaidi Dache and was renamed Didi Kuaidi (later renamed Didi Chuxing or “DiDi”).
In August 2016, DiDi acquired all assets of the Chinese division of
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
.
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.
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.
Published work
*''DiDi: The Sharing Economy is Changing China'' co-authored by Jean Liu and Zhang Xiaofeng, ed. Posts & Telecom Press, June 2016.
Prizes
*2019: Fortune China’s list of 50 Most Influential Business Leaders
*2018: 50 Most influential business leaders in China by ''Forbes China''
*2017: 50 Most Influential Business Leaders by ''Fortune China''
*2017: Global Game Changers by ''Forbes''
*2017: 20 Most Influential People in Tech list by the ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine
*2016: Businessperson of the Year by ''Fortune'' magazine and Forbes Asia's Businessman of the Year
*2016: Wired 100 List.
*2015: "Top 10 Economic Influencers of China" by Sina.com.
*2015: "40 under 40" list by ''Fortune'' magazine.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Wei
1983 births
Living people
Beijing University of Chemical Technology alumni
Chinese chief executives
Chinese company founders
Businesspeople from Jiangxi
People from Shangrao
Alibaba Group people
DiDi people
21st-century Chinese businesspeople
Chinese billionaires