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
Tony Xu found life tough as a Chinese immigrant in the United States. His family had to rely on a federal assistance programme, they juggled multiple jobs to survive, and even considered visiting McDonalds a “luxury”. Now, as the co-founder and CEO of food delivery platform DoorDash, Xu’s net worth sits at over US$3 billion, according to Forbes – testament to the fact that hard work and persistence pays off.
Before founding DoorDash in 2013, Xu washed dishes in a restaurant, earned money through a lawn-mowing business and even worked as a Domino’s delivery driver. His early exposure to hard work likely played an instrumental role in inspiring his future financial success.
When DoorDash launched its IPO a few months ago, its valuation skyrocketed to US$32 billion. The lucrative public offering made 36-year-old Xu a billionaire, who, according to CNBC, owns a 5 per cent stake of the company. Becoming a billionaire so young is a huge feat, so what was Tony’s life like before he got here?
He had a good work ethic at a young age
Tony spoke about his humble beginnings in a recent online lecture moderated by the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He described his parents’ journey as the “classic immigrant story”, with his family coming to the US with just US$200 in the bank. His mother was a licensed doctor in China and his father was a graduate student at the University of Illinois.
Education first
Tony’s parents worked hard to put him into a prestigious university. Tony attended the University of California, Berkeley and has an MBA from Stanford. It was with his business school classmates that he conceived the business that would eventually become DoorDash.
He worked at Domino’s
His work schedule is pretty loaded
In a Lifehacker interview, Tony revealed that his workday is action packed, and revolves around “one-on-ones, team meetings, customer meetings, recruiting and general thinking time.” He also said that he spends most of his time recruiting, and is most productive in the morning.
DoorDash is about helping local communities
In a letter accompanying the IPO prospectus, Tony wrote that DoorDash exists to empower people like his mum who came to the US as an immigrant. “Fighting for the underdog is part of who I am and what we stand for as a company,” he said. Even before the filing, the company has announced a US$200 million pledge to support local businesses and communities “to create greater access and opportunity.”
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- He went from being a young immigrant who washed dishes, mowed lawns and considered McDonald’s a ‘luxury’ to a Stanford graduate who founded a hit delivery app
- DoorDash’s value skyrocketed to US$32 billion after its IPO and in turn made its CEO, Chinese-American Tony Xu, a billionaire – but what was his backstory?