Wang Xing

Wang Xing (; born 18 February 1979) is a Chinese businessman, who co-founded Meituan and has been serving as chief executive officer of Meituan since January 2010. He previously served as chief executive officer of Fanfou from 2007 to 2010.

Early life and education

Wang Xing was born in 1979 in Longyan, Fujian, China.

Wang received a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering in 2001. He enrolled in a PhD program in computer engineering at the University of Delaware from 2001 to 2004, but dropped out with a master's degree in computer engineering.

Business career

After leaving the University of Delaware, Wang returned to China to launch his business career. In his first technology startup, Wang along with a couple of friends, tried to create a Chinese version of the then-social networking site Friendster. His first such site was called Duoduoyou (兜兜友; ), targeting students in various Chinese universities. After Duoduoyou failed to take off, he started Youzitu (游子图; ) to serve Chinese students abroad but the site eventually ceased operation.

In 2005, Wang created a Chinese version of Facebook called Xiaonei (校内网; ). The site was a hit but Wang had to sell it off due to financial problems. The new owners re-branded the site, renamed Renren (人人网; ).

In 2007, Wang created a Chinese version of Twitter called Fanfou (饭否; ). It was China's first big microblogging site but was soon shut down by the government over politically sensitive content. It was eventually permitted to reopen but by then, other Chinese microblogging sites like Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo had entered the market and captured substantial market share.

In 2010, Wang established the Chinese group-buying site Meituan, which was based on the business model of Groupon. Meituan was hugely successful and merged with Dianping in 2015.

Controversy

Politics

On 3 May 2021, Wang posted a Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) poem about book burning on Fanfou, a social media platform owned by himself. The action was reported by Quartz News as a veiled swipe against the Xi Jinping Administration's clampdown on civil society, intellectual and academic freedom since ascension to office. The poem, entitled "Book Burning Pit," speaks about the late emperor Qin Shi Huang's practice of beheading scholars and burning books, only to be overthrown by illiterate rebels later during his reign.

As a result of the post, Meituan's shares plunged 7.1% on the same day, wiping $36.98 billion from the company's market cap over the subsequent weeks. The firm also subsequently came under scrutiny from the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and became the target of an anti-monopoly investigation from the State Administration of Market Regulation, reported by Bloomberg News as political reaction for Wang's post.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Xing
1979 births
Living people
21st-century Chinese businesspeople
Billionaires from Fujian
Chinese chief executives
Chinese technology company founders
Meituan people
People from Longyan
Tsinghua University alumni
University of Delaware alumni