[News Inside] The Man Chosen by Son Jeong-ui and Tim Cook... Dominating the Chinese Mainland After Leaving Alibaba

Didi Chuxing Founder Cheng Wei

▲Qingwei Didi Chuxing Chairman

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The man chosen by SoftBank Group (SBG) Chairman Masayoshi Son, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

He is Cheng Wei, the founder of Didi Chuxing, often referred to as the Chinese version of 'Uber.'

Born in 1983 in Shangrao, a small rural town in Jiangxi Province, south of the Yangtze River in central-southern China, Cheng Wei failed the college entrance exam and enrolled in the Department of Administrative Management at Beijing University of Chemical Technology. It was neither his desired university nor a department known for good employment prospects. After failing the college entrance exam, he also failed to find a job. To survive, he worked part-time at a foot massage parlor, wandering from place to place, until he encountered his first life-changing opportunity. He applied to Alibaba, which was hiring at the time. Recklessly, he traveled from Beijing to Hangzhou to apply in person, and the Alibaba HR manager admired his courage and gave him an interview opportunity. In 2005, at the age of 22, he was chosen by Jack Ma and began working at Alibaba.

His uniqueness began to shine from the moment he joined Alibaba. Cheng Wei worked in the B2B (business-to-business) division at Alibaba, selling internet electronic devices for six years and became the youngest manager. In 2011, he was promoted to Deputy General Manager of Alibaba's mobile payment system Alipay's B2C (business-to-consumer) division. Cheng Wei was not just a good employee. Through this process, he built sales and marketing skills and experienced the growth potential of the internet and mobile payment markets, steadily preparing for his own business.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

It was also at this time that he met Wang Gang, who became a co-founder of Didi Chuxing and an angel investor, seizing his second life opportunity. On a day when a snowstorm swept across half of China, he was inspired by a TV program he enjoyed watching called 'Love's Substitute Driving.' He realized, "Everyone complains about how hard it is to catch a taxi, but no one thinks about changing this system." He quickly took action, resigned from Alibaba, and with 100,000 yuan (about 17 million won), founded Didi Dache, the predecessor of Didi Chuxing. This was in 2012, when he was 29 years old.

At that time, taxi applications (apps) were not common services in China or globally. Most taxi drivers did not even use smartphones. Everyone around him, except Cheng Wei, was pessimistic about the future and tried to dissuade him from starting a business. But he saw an opportunity in reverse thinking. If mobile phones were not widespread, he planned to capture business opportunities face-to-face. He sent himself and his employees to the field to meet taxi drivers directly and distributed driver terminals. He applied the sales approach he used at Alibaba, which involved direct, on-the-ground efforts. He personally demonstrated how to use the terminals to taxi drivers. Then, he launched a customer taxi app and launched a large-scale promotional campaign.

Even now as chairman, he is known to meet with taxi drivers once a month to listen to their on-site difficulties.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Investors paid close attention to Cheng Wei's moves. At the right time, he received a $15 million investment from Tencent, which was looking for a ridesharing service partner to establish its mobile payment service in the market. Using this as a stepping stone, Didi Dache grew and successfully merged with 'Kuaidi Dache,' the then No. 1 mobility market share company affiliated with Alibaba, becoming Didi Chuxing. The two companies had been rivals competing fiercely by offering taxi drivers subsidies worth billions of yuan to dominate the market, but through the merger, they rose to become one of China's top 10 giant internet companies.

Backed by China's two major IT giants, Tencent and Alibaba, Didi Chuxing seemed destined for smooth sailing, but it soon faced unexpected challenges. In 2014, Uber, armed with high brand recognition and strong financial power, entered China. Uber founder Travis Kalanick proposed acquiring Didi Chuxing, but Cheng Wei rejected the offer outright. Thus began Chairman Cheng Wei's second battle. Uber made it clear it would never back down in the world's largest ridesharing market, China, and Cheng Wei prepared for a second war, determined not to be defeated.

Cheng Wei's recklessness proved its worth in crisis. Known for his humble personality and steady trust from investors, Cheng Wei secured strong allies among founders of prominent companies such as Tencent, Alibaba, and Lenovo, and attracted additional investments from them. Eventually, even Apple stepped forward to invest $1 billion (about 1.155 trillion won) in Didi Chuxing, enabling Cheng Wei to gain the upper hand in the 'chicken game' against Uber, which lasted two years and resulted in billions of dollars in losses.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

From 2017 to 2019, Cheng Wei was named one of the 50 most influential business leaders in China by Fortune for three consecutive years. In 2017, Forbes selected him as a 'Global Game Changer,' and in the same year, Time named him one of the '20 Most Influential People in Tech.' In 2016, he was also named 'Entrepreneur of the Year' by Forbes.

In an interview with Forbes, Cheng Wei expressed his ambition: "We want to become the world's largest one-stop transportation platform."

Cheng Wei's dream is ongoing. After swallowing up Uber in the Chinese market, he is preparing to enter the New York Stock Exchange to take on the world stage. On the 10th (U.S. time), Didi Chuxing filed for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Although the timing of the listing and the amount of funds to be raised have not been disclosed, industry sources say the company is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) next month and aims to raise $10 billion (about 11 trillion won) through it. This is expected to be the largest IPO by a Chinese company on the U.S. stock market since Alibaba raised $25 billion on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.