Tony Xu

Current Company

DoorDash — Co-Founder & CEO

The Immigrant’s Son Who Built DoorDash

Tony Xu co-founded DoorDash in 2013 as a Stanford MBA project after spending time personally delivering food and talking to restaurant owners about their biggest challenges. Born in Nanjing, China, Tony Xu immigrated to the United States as a child. His parents worked multiple jobs — his mother was a restaurant worker — giving Tony Xu a firsthand understanding of the food service industry that would inform DoorDash’s approach to partnering with local restaurants.

Under Tony Xu’s leadership as co-founder and CEO, DoorDash grew into the largest food delivery platform in the United States, surpassing Uber Eats and Grubhub. Tony Xu took DoorDash public in December 2020. His strategy centered on starting in suburban markets that competitors ignored, building operational density and logistics expertise before expanding into major cities — a bottom-up approach that proved more sustainable than the top-down strategies of rival platforms.

Beyond Restaurant Delivery

Tony Xu has expanded DoorDash well beyond its restaurant delivery origins, building what he envisions as the local commerce platform for everything. Under Tony Xu’s leadership, DoorDash now delivers groceries, convenience items, alcohol, pet supplies, and retail products, and offers DashPass — a subscription service that provides free delivery and reduced fees. Tony Xu has also invested in DoorDash for Business, serving corporate offices and enterprise customers.

Tony Xu’s long-term vision is to build the logistics infrastructure that enables any local merchant to reach customers digitally — a platform play that positions DoorDash as essential infrastructure for local commerce rather than just a food delivery service. Tony Xu’s personal connection to the restaurant industry, combined with his engineering background, has made him one of the most respected operators in the on-demand economy.