Billionaire pair behind Didi see fortune shed $1.5bn as US IPO turns sour
The billionaire pair behind China’s ride-hailing giant Didi saw their fortune shed by $1.5bn last night as shares plunged in its New York listing.
Beijing’s security and tech crackdown on the company has seemingly spooked investors, which has led to the country’s internet regulator ordering stores to remove the Didi app.
Since China’s internet regulator opened a security review in the firm, which has the heftiest stake in China’s ride-hailing industry, Didi’s American depositary receipts have sunk 24 per cent.
Co-founder and CEO, Cheng Wei, saw his net worth collapse by around $1.2bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. While co-founder and president, Jean Liu, lost some $300m.
Just last week the Beijing-based company raised $4.4bn in its initial public offering (IPO), which Chinese regulators urged the company to delay over national security concerns three months ago, according to reports.
Didi offered some senior executives and board members stock options worth billions of dollars ahead of the IPO, which swayed from the usual four-year vesting restriction.