Tony Xu
Xu in 2018
Born
Xu Xun

1983 or 1984 (age 39–40)
Nanjing, China
Education
OccupationCEO of DoorDash
SpousePatti Xu
Children2
Chinese name
Chinese徐迅
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXú Xùn
IPA[ɕy̌ ɕŷn]

Tony Xu (born Xu Xun, 1983/1984)[1] is a Chinese-American billionaire businessman and the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of DoorDash. Born in Nanjing, China, Xu immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of four. He earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Earlier in his career, Xu interned at Square, Inc., and worked for McKinsey & Company, eBay, and PayPal. He was included in Fortune's "40 Under 40" list in 2020.

DoorDash had its IPO in December 2020[2][3] making Xu's net worth an estimated $2.8 billion as of April 2021.[4] He and his wife Patti are signatories to the Giving Pledge.

Early life and education

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Xu was born in Nanjing, China.[5] In 1989, his parents immigrated to Champaign, Illinois. His mother, Julie Cao, was[6] previously a doctor in China. She later opened acupuncture and medical clinics in Champaign and the San Francisco Bay Area.[7] His father was a professor in China who studied aerospace engineering and applied mathematics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,[1] where he earned his Ph.D.[7]

Xu began working at an early age, at times washing dishes at the same restaurant where his mother worked.[1][8][9] He legally changed his name from Xu Xun to Tony Xu, inspired by his favorite television series Who's the Boss?, in which Tony Danza plays Tony Micelli.[5] Xu earned his Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering and operations research from Berkeley's College of Engineering[9] and his Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 2013.[1][10]

Career

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Xu in 2016

Early in his career, Xu interned at the financial services and digital payments company Square, Inc. and completed business development work for the e-commerce app RedLaser.[1] He also worked as a business analyst for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, and as a corporate strategy consultant for eBay and PayPal.[9][11]

Xu co-founded the delivery platform DoorDash in 2013 with Stanford classmates Andy Fang, Evan Moore, and Stanley Tang; the group had previously worked together to launch the predecessor delivery service PaloAltoDelivery.com in 2012. Xu has said his immigrant parents, and especially his mother's restaurant work, helped inspire DoorDash.[1][7] Initially, he and other DoorDash employees completed food deliveries.[5] Xu continues to be CEO, and owns an approximately five percent stake in the company. DoorDash's initial public offering in 2020, which Xu has been credited for leading,[12] made him a billionaire at the age of 36.[1][7] He has voting authority over all Class B shares, giving him control of DoorDash with 69 percent of the voting interest, as of December 2020.[13][14]

In 2020, Xu was included in Fortune's "40 Under 40" list.[11] In 2022, he became an angel investor in the Gigs startup.[15]

Board service and investments

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In addition to DoorDash's board of directors,[16] Xu is a board member of the Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation and an executive council member of TechNet.[17][18][19]

In January 2022, Tony Xu joined the board directors of Meta Platforms.[20]

Xu has invested in the blockchain technology provider Alchemy,[21] as well as the ghost kitchens All Day Kitchens and Local Kitchens.[22][23][24]

Charities

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Signatories to the Giving Pledge, he and his wife Patti have made significant donations in support of Berkeley, Northwestern, and the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.[25]

Personal life

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Xu lives in San Francisco.[26] He and his wife Patti met at church while they were undergraduates at Berkeley and married in 2013; the couple have two children.[5][27]

Xu enjoys running and used to participate in marathons.[9] He has described himself as an "avid" Golden State Warriors and basketball fan,[28][29] and has credited the sport and television for helping him learn English. [10][30]

Publications

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Huddleston Jr., Tom (December 9, 2020). "DoorDash IPO will make its CEO a billionaire — here's how his immigrant parents inspired his success". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  2. ^ Investor's Business Daily (December 9, 2020). "Shares Of DoorDash IPO Jump By Double Digits As Trading Begins". Investor's Business Daily. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2020. ((cite news)): |last= has generic name (help)
  3. ^ Mehta, Stephanie (December 10, 2020). "'We don't have to spend it all at once!' CEO Tony Xu on DoorDash's $3.4 billion IPO". Fast Company. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "Tony Xu". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Lee, Dave (February 28, 2020). "Tony Xu, the steady hand steering DoorDash's delivery empire". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  6. ^ Mann, Sonya. "The Secret Behind These Tech Founders' Success? Thanks, Mom". Inc. ISSN 0162-8968. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Sorvino, Chloe (December 9, 2020). "DoorDash IPO Delivers Three Billionaires as Wall Street Ignores a Menu of Losses". Forbes. ISSN 0015-6914. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  8. ^ Mendoza, Kenn Anthony (March 8, 2021). "Meet DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, the 36-year-old food delivery app entrepreneur whose net worth soared to more than US$3 billion amid Covid-19". South China Morning Post. OCLC 648902513. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d White, Ronald D. (January 12, 2018). "How I Made It: DoorDash's Tony Xu finds uncertainty delivers growth". Los Angeles Times. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Doyle, Kelsey (June 16, 2021). "DoorDash CEO Tony Xu on Why Obsession With Detail Matters". Stanford Graduate School of Business (Stanford University). Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "40 Under 40: Tony Xu". Fortune. 2020. ISSN 0015-8259. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  12. ^ Sorvino, Chloe (November 30, 2020). "DoorDash IPO Could Make CEO Tony Xu And Cofounders Billionaires". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  13. ^ Manfredi, Lucas. "DoorDash IPO turns CEO Tony Xu, co-founders Andy Fang, Stanley Tang into billionaires". Fox Business. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  14. ^ Maloney, Tom (December 9, 2020). "DoorDash Trio worth up to $2.7 billion each as IPO soars". The Seattle Times. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021 – via Bloomberg News.
  15. ^ "Gigs rings up $20 million with Google's early-stage venture fund Gradient, YC Continuity, Speedinvest, and a who's who of angel investors dialling in". Tech.eu. September 21, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  16. ^ "Tony Xu". DoorDash. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  17. ^ Jun, Chang (October 20, 2014). "Asian-Americans aiming to make impact on Election Day". China Daily. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  18. ^ "Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation Board Directors". Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  19. ^ "Executive Council: Tony Xu". TechNet. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  20. ^ "Tony Xu Joins Meta Board of Directors". PR Newswire. January 11, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  21. ^ Leising, Matthew (August 4, 2021). "Alchemy Adds Vikram Pandit, Jeffrey Katzenberg as New Investors". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  22. ^ Barreira, Alex (May 14, 2021). "S.F. ghost kitchen startup debuts with a new name, new market and $20 million in new funding". San Francisco Business Times. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  23. ^ Forman, Laura (April 2, 2021). "Ghost Kitchens Will Keep Appearing on Your Delivery App, Even as the Pandemic Eases". The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. ISSN 0099-9660. OCLC 781541372. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  24. ^ Luna, Nancy (July 9, 2021). "Delivery's richest CEO Tony Xu has been quietly funding 2 ghost kitchens built by Uber Eats and DoorDash alums — and his bets reveal the next big trend in the industry, experts say". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  25. ^
  26. ^ Batey, Eve (December 10, 2020). "Doordash's Founders Are Billionaires Now". Eater San Francisco. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  27. ^ Harry Stebbings (June 7, 2021). "20VC: DoorDash CEO Tony Xu on The Art of Great Leadership Today, Why The Best Give All of the Credit and Take All of the Blame & How DoorDash Have Won The Best Talent Against the Toughest Competition". The Twenty Minute VC (Podcast). Event occurs at 7:40. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  28. ^ Cohen, David (August 17, 2020). "DoorDash Becomes Official On-Demand Delivery Platform of NBA, WNBA, NBA 2K League". Adweek. Shamrock Holdings. ISSN 0199-2864. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  29. ^ Givens, Dana (August 17, 2020). "DoorDash Becomes First-Ever On-Demand Delivery Platform of the NBA, WNBA and NBA 2K League". Black Enterprise. ISSN 0006-4165. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  30. ^ Keith Rabois (May 25, 2021). "Doordash CEO Tony Xu". Series A with Keith Rabois (Podcast). Event occurs at 13:51. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
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