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Didi’s Cheng Wei: Chinese Patriot Who Tamed Uber

12Aug By reutersNo Comments

CHINA, News

Didi’s Cheng Wei: Chinese Patriot Who Tamed Uber

Cheng Wei, 34, was once assistant to the head of a foot massage firm. Last week, his company Didi Chuxing bagged Uber's China business in a deal valuing his ride-hailing start-up at $35 billion - a second success in as many years in a gruelling battle with a rival. Investors and Didi staff say Cheng has a cool head, a keen strategic eye and a lack of ego - all pivotal in taking on and beating Uber in a two-year, multi-billion-dollar scrap for China's competitive ride-hailing market. But his leadership style is also cut-throat and tinged with nationalism, say some of those who know him. He often references China's history and military in his speeches. He will be closely watched now as he looks to turn his vast, money-losing ride-hailing company into a meaningful business. Chinese m...

11Aug By reutersNo Comments

News

Google Ventures CEO Bill Maris Quits

Bill Maris, the chief executive and founder of Alphabet Inc's venture capital arm GV, is leaving the company, Recode reported, citing sources. Maris, who leaves on Friday, will be replaced by GV managing partner David Krane, Recode said. on.recode.net/2b0aaNx A GV spokeswoman declined to comment on the report. GV, previously known as Google Ventures, was founded in 2009 and has invested in more than 300 companies including Uber Technologies Inc and online retailer Jet.com, according to GV's website. Alphabet's projects have seen some high-profile departures in recent months. Chris Urmson, chief technical officer for its self-driving car project, left last week, while Anthony Levandowski, product manager for the program, left earlier this year to co-found a startup. Tony Fade...

Didi and Uber Join Fight Against Ola in India

10Aug By reutersNo Comments

News

Didi and Uber Join Fight Against Ola in India

Didi Chuxing's acquisition of Uber's China business last week reshapes the landscape in Asia's growing ride-hailing sector, and leaves India's Ola more vulnerable to attack by Uber in its $12 billion home market. Four months ago, Ola executives met with Didi hoping the Chinese firm would invest fresh capital to help it fight Uber Technologies Inc which, with its deeper pockets, has made rapid inroads into India. They were told Didi wanted first to sort out its own challenges in China, said a person with direct knowledge of Ola's plans. Didi and Uber have raised and spent billions of dollars in a discount slugfest to win drivers, passengers and market share in China. Didi, now worth around $35 billion, last year invested about $30 million in Ola, which is also backed by Japan's ...

Largest Deal in E-commerce: Wal-Mart Acquired Jet.com For $3 Billion

9Aug By reutersNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Largest Deal in E-commerce: Wal-Mart Acquired Jet.com For $3 Billion

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, vying to better challenge Amazon.com Inc , will pay about $3 billion for internet retailer Jet.com and its innovative pricing software in the largest-ever deal for an e-commerce startup. The deal disclosed on Monday follows a five-year e-commerce acquisition spree in which Wal-Mart, the world's biggest traditional retailer, has already bought 15 startups, seeking the talent and technology to make it a dominant player online and narrow the massive gap with market leader Amazon. Wal-Mart's online division has underperformed against Amazon, posting its slowest growth in a year in the first quarter as it struggled to gain traction with consumers, especially millennials. Jet.com was launched by internet entrepreneur Marc Lore in July 2015 and includes software that...

How Apple Backing Helped China’s Taxi Aggregator Didi Chuxing To Outrun Uber in China

4Aug By reutersNo Comments

Story

How Apple Backing Helped China’s Taxi Aggregator Didi Chuxing To Outrun Uber in China

Apple Inc's $1 billion investment in car-hailing app Didi Chuxing in May helped accelerate Uber's decision to agree a halt to a costly two-year battle with its rival in China, people close to the companies and analysts said. Didi Chuxing Technology Co and Uber Technologies Inc raised billions of dollars in funding and spent heavily on discounted rides as they slugged it out for drivers, passengers and market share in the world's second-biggest economy. Uber finally ceded this week, realizing it was no match for a cash-rich rival with the backing of three of the world's largest technology giants. It agreed to give up its independence in return for a nearly one-fifth stake in a bigger Didi. Didi raised far more money than Uber China making China the first market where Uber's strategy of...

27Jul By reutersNo Comments

News

Twitter Revenue & Users Growth Slows

Twitter Inc reported its slowest revenue growth since going public in 2013 and set a disappointing forecast, fanning concerns that faster growing social media services will make it a niche product. The microblogging service operator's shares fell 11 percent in extended trading to $16.40. While Twitter struggles to find a way to boost user growth and win over advertisers, social media services such as Instagram and Snapchat are expanding their footprints. Co-founder Jack Dorsey returned to the company as chief executive a year ago, but his plan for reviving Twitter is at best seen as unfinished. The company's second quarter revenue missed Wall Street estimates and the revenue forecast for the current quarter of $590 million to $610 million was well below the average analyst estimat...

27Jul By reutersNo Comments

Story

Revenue and Identity Crisis of Yahoo

When senior Yahoo executives gathered at a San Jose hotel for a management retreat in the spring of 2006, there was no outward sign of a company in crisis. The internet pioneer, not yet a teenager, had just finished the prior year with $1.9 billion in profits on $5.3 billion in revenue. The tough days of the dot-com bust were a distant memory, and Yahoo Inc, flush with lucrative advertising deals from the world's biggest brands, was enjoying its run as one of the top dogs in the world's hottest industry. But for one retreat exercise, everyone was asked to say what word came to mind when a company name was mentioned. They went through the list: eBay: auctions. Google: search. Intel: microprocessors. Microsoft: Windows. Then they were asked to write down their answer for Yahoo. "...

Verizon to Announce $5 Billion Deal to Buy Yahoo on Monday

25Jul By reutersNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Verizon to Announce $5 Billion Deal to Buy Yahoo on Monday

Verizon Communications Inc will announce an agreement on Monday to buy Yahoo Inc for about $5 billion (roughly Rs. 33,604 crores), according to a person familiar with the matter. The announcement will come before the start of New York trading hours, the source added. The deal will end months of uncertainty about Yahoo's future after the company announced plans to review strategic alternatives in February. Yahoo and Verizon both declined to comment. Reuters reported on Friday that Verizon had emerged as the front-runner in the Yahoo auction. The transaction would boost Verizon's AOL Internet business, which the company acquired last year for $4.4 billion, by giving it access to Yahoo's advertising technology tools, as well as other assets such as search, mail, messenger and r...

Exclusive: Tesla, SolarCity Close to Merger Agreement

24Jul By reutersNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Exclusive: Tesla, SolarCity Close to Merger Agreement

Tesla Motors Inc and SolarCity Corp have made progress in putting together a deal that will merge the electric car maker and the solar panel installer, people familiar with the matter said. The two companies, which count billionaire Elon Musk as a major shareholder, are in the final stages of carrying out due diligence on each other, and could agree on the terms of a deal in the coming days, though it is still possible that their negotiations end unsuccessfully, the people said on Saturday. It could not be learned whether SolarCity would be successful in including a go-shop provision in a merger agreement with Tesla that would allow it to continue to solicit bids from other potential buyers for a short period of time. The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations...

Decoding: Venture Capital Investments Globally

18Jul By reutersNo Comments

ANALYSIS

Decoding: Venture Capital Investments Globally

Venture capital investments in startups rebounded in the second quarter, as a general stock market recovery helped restore confidence, according to a new report published on Friday. Investors plowed $15.3 billion into venture-backed startups in the second quarter of this year, a 20.5 percent increase over the $12.7 billion invested in the first quarter, according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The report's conclusions are based on data from Thomson Reuters. "There was a bit of a pause in the first quarter when the public markets took a beating," said Sean Cunningham, managing director of Trident Capital Cybersecurity. "The public markets are back. Everyone is bullish." Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc and mes...

SoftBank to Buy UK Chip Designer ARM in $32 Billion Cash Deal

18Jul By reutersNo Comments

ACQUISITION

SoftBank to Buy UK Chip Designer ARM in $32 Billion Cash Deal

SoftBank Group Corp has agreed to buy UK chip designer ARM Holdings PLC in a 24.3 billion pound ($32.2 billion) deal, the two companies said on Monday, in an ambitious bet on mobile internet that will transform the Japanese tech group. ARM, the most valuable tech company listed in London by market value, is a major presence in mobile processing, with its processor and graphics technology used by Samsung, Huawei and Apple in their in-house designed microchips. The Cambridge-based group also stands to be central to the tech industry's shift to the 'internet of things' - a network of devices, vehicles and building sensors that collect and exchange data - a focus for SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son. Monday's deal, Softbank's largest to date, marks a departure for the Japanese group, wh...

Alibaba Launched First Internet Connected Car

6Jul By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

Alibaba Launched First Internet Connected Car

Chinese tech firm Alibaba's internet-connected car will set the Chinese e-commerce giant up to quickly introduce driverless vehicle technology, Chief Technology Officer Wang Jian told Reuters on Wednesday. Alibaba and the country's largest automaker SAIC Motor Corp demonstrated their jointly developed car equipped with the YunOS operating system, which can link up with smart phones, at an event in eastern China's Hangzhou on Wednesday. The car is slated to go on sale later this year. "You'll quickly see driverless car technology resulting from this platform," Wang said on the sidelines of the event. Among major tech companies, Alibaba is relatively late to offer a platform that can link a smart phone to a car, trailing platforms already launched by Alphabet's Google, Apple and Baidu. ...