Hu Weiwei (entrepreneur)

Hu Weiwei (Chinese: 胡玮炜, born 1982) is a Chinese journalist and businesswoman. She is a co-founder of bicycle-sharing company Mobike.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Hu.

Hu Weiwei
胡玮炜
Born1982 (age 38–39)
Dongyang
NationalityChinese
Alma materZhejiang City College
OccupationJournalist
Businesswoman
Known forCEO of Mobike (2016–2018)

Career

Hu was born in Dongyang in 1982.[1] She studied at the Department of Journalism of the Zhejiang City College (2000–2004) and graduated with a bachelor of communication.[2]

Hu worked for the Daily Economic News (每经网), a Chinese business newspaper, mainly covering tech news on cars. She then worked for The Beijing News and for Business Value specialising in technology news.[3] In 2014 Hu founded the media platform GeekCar.[4]

Through her contacts in the automobile and technology sector, Hu assembled a team in late 2015 to start a bicycle-sharing company and launched Mobike in January 2016.[3] Co-founder Wang Xiaofeng, the general manager for the Shanghai office of Uber also known by his English name Davis Wang, became Mobike's CEO. Unable to purchase bikes from suppliers to the preferred specifications, the company built its own bikes which rolled out from April 2016.[4]

Early in 2017, Hu was one of seven leaders, scholars and entrepreneurs to present to Premier of China Li Keqiang and other political leaders to provide ideas for the annual Government Report.[1] The American business magazine Forbes listed Hu and her business partner Xia Yiping as number twenty on its 2017 "40 under 40" list.[5]

In early April 2018, it was announced that Mobike had been acquired by Chinese web company Meituan-Dianping for US$2.7 billion,.[6] Wang was reportedly opposed to the takeover and left Mobike at the end of that month, with Hu taking on the role of CEO. Liu Yu (Eric Liu), an advisor to the company, joined and succeeded Hu as Mobike's president.[7] Hu left Mobike in December 2018 "for personal reasons", with Liu Yu succeeding her as CEO.[8]

Hu and cofounder Liu Yu founded a new firm circa 9 May 2019, with USD$10m in capital, and with her as CEO.[9] The firm is registered as dealing in digital technologies.

Personal

Hu has a son who was born in circa 2010.[10]

References
  1. Zhou, Gretchen (6 February 2017). "Bike Tech Entrepreneur Shares Her Vision with China's Highest-Level Leadership". All-China Women's Federation. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  2. Zhou, Bajun (28 June 2017). "City can ride to a bright future – on two shared wheels". China Daily. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  3. Lee, Emma (11 April 2017). "3 Chinese journalists who turned into successful tech entrepreneurs". Technode. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  4. Wang, Xinlei; Ke, Feng (29 June 2018). "Mobike founder Hu Weiwei: A crazy idea that touched millions of lives". Compasslist. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  5. "Hu Weiwei and Xia Yiping, 35, 36". Forbes. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  6. Chong, Zoey (3 April 2018). "This bike sharing company just got bought for $2.7 billion". CNET. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  7. Borak, Masha (28 April 2018). "Mobike co-founder and CEO Davis Wang resigns, Hu Weiwei takes the handlebars". Technode. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  8. Yingzhi, Yang; Zhou, Xin (23 December 2018). "Mobike founder Hu Weiwei quits chief executive role at China's leading bike-sharing firm". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  9. "胡玮炜又创业了，摩拜原团队要"搞事情"了？ | 每经网" [Hu Weiwei has started her own business again. Is the original Mobike team going to "do something"?]. 21st Century Business Herald (in Chinese). 16 May 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  10. Ma, Si. "At the heart of bike-sharing". China Daily. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
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