Meituan Dianping CEO’s net worth poised to top US$7 billion as shares surge
- Meituan’s expansion efforts have helped it overtake the likes of Baidu to become China’s third largest publicly traded tech company
The founder of China food-delivery giant Meituan Dianping is having a very good year.
As his business has grown, chief executive Wang Xing’s net worth doubled this year through Thursday’s close to US$6.7 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That figure is likely to top US$7 billion as Meituan’s stock surged on Friday, following a strong quarterly earnings report.
Shares of the Beijing-based company climbed as much as 13 per cent, the most intraday since its initial public offering in Hong Kong last year, and traded 8 per cent higher at 11:45am. Meituan posted revenue that increased 44 per cent to 27.5 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion) in the three months ended September 30, compared with the 26 billion yuan average of analysts’ estimates. Net income hit 1.3 billion yuan, including gains from investments, while analysts projected a 502 million yuan loss.
Backed by internet giant Tencent Holdings, Meituan is investing heavily in a plethora of online services, from food delivery to travel, to compete directly against Alibaba Group Holding. New York-traded Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
Meituan’s Wang is trying to sustain a robust pace of growth by expanding into newer arenas, such as ride-hailing services, restaurant management and online groceries. That ambitious expansion has helped Meituan overtake the likes of Baidu to become China’s third largest publicly traded technology company.