Early Life
Tony Xu was born Xu Xun in Nanjing, China, in 1983 or 1984. At the age of four, he immigrated to the United States with his parents, settling in Champaign, Illinois. His mother, Julie Cao, was a doctor in China who later opened acupuncture and medical clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area. His father was a professor.
Rise to Success
Xu's journey began with a simple idea born at Stanford. While studying at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, he and his classmates recognized the need for a more efficient way for local businesses to handle deliveries. Together, they launched PaloAltoDelivery.com in 2012. This eventually evolved into DoorDash, which was co-founded in 2013. Xu served as the CEO and led the company's IPO in December 2020, making him a billionaire at 36. Before DoorDash, Xu interned at Square, Inc. and worked at McKinsey & Company, eBay, and PayPal. He also completed business development work for the e-commerce app RedLaser. 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. He was included in Fortune's 40 Under 40 in 2020. In 2022, he became an angel investor in the Gigs startup. He and his wife Patti met at church while they were undergraduates at Berkeley and married in 2013; the couple have two children.
Key Business Strategies
DoorDash's success can be attributed to several key strategies. Xu and his co-founders focused on building a strong network of drivers (Dashers), offering a wide selection of restaurants, and providing a user-friendly platform. The company also prioritized data analytics to optimize delivery routes and improve customer experience. DoorDash aggressively expanded services throughout America, surpassing Uber Eats to become the second-largest delivery service in America within five years. One year later, it regained the number one spot in terms of food delivery sales.
Philanthropy
Xu and his wife Patti are signatories to the Giving Pledge and have made significant donations in support of UC Berkeley, Northwestern University, and the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
