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Apple Given Didi Chuxing Board Seat Following $1 Billion Investment

Tuesday October 11, 2016 4:55 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Shortly after making a $1 billion investment in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, Apple was given a seat on the board, reports The Information. News originally suggested Apple had not received a board seat as part of the deal, but regulatory filings suggest a board appointment happened late in June.

Tim-Cook-Beijing-Didi-Chuxing
Tim Cook with Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu
The board appointment occurred in late June, according to a regulatory filing. It reinforces the gravity of Apple's investment, which influenced Uber's decision to sell its China operations to Didi at the end of July. Didi had a large lead in market share but Uber hoped Didi wouldn't be able to keep raising capital. The Apple investment, while not the deciding factor, was personally disappointing to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, say people who know him.
Adrian Perica, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, represents Apple on the board. A former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Perica has been with Apple since 2009 and has handled key acquisitions like Beats.

Known as the "Uber of China," Didi Chuxing is the most popular ride sharing service in China. Apple's May 2016 investment in the company came amid rumors Apple is developing its own electric car and was instrumental in helping Didi Chuxing acquire Uber's Chinese operations in a $35 billion deal at the end of July.

Apple's $1 billion investment in Didi Chuxing was a first for the company, but it does provide Apple with access to data and expertise on both electric an autonomous car technology, something that will undoubtedly come in handy as the company works to develop its own car product.

Apple's "Project Titan" effort, described as an "open secret" by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is Apple's car-building project. Apple is said to have a secret facility in Sunnyvale where it is developing car prototypes, and the most recent rumors suggest Apple is also focusing on autonomous driving software as part of a two-prong approach that will allow it to both develop its own car and create software that could potentially be used in third-party vehicles.

A partnership with a company like Didi Chuxing, which employs thousands of drivers, could give Apple a resource for testing future software products.

Tag: Didi Chuxing
[ 106 comments ]


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Mansu944
32 months ago

Here comes the disguised and not-so-disguised casual racism...



Jeez you SJW's. is it ever ok to bag on anything that's not a white male? Every criticism of this and every joke about this is racist???
Rating: 15 Votes
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Michael Scrip
32 months ago
This is why Macs are delayed... too much futzing around with other things!

:)
Rating: 14 Votes
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nazaar
32 months ago
Are they doing this because they don't know what to do with computers anymore.
Rating: 14 Votes
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neech7
32 months ago

Apple just lost $1 billion.


A bunch of armchair gurus telling us they know better how to run one of the most profitable companies in the world, than the guy actually doing it.
Rating: 14 Votes
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definitive
32 months ago
They couldn't have invested in an American based company instead?
Rating: 12 Votes
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Asarien
32 months ago
I see...

This is what he does with his company's time and money instead of innovating and improving its existing products.
Rating: 11 Votes
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Feenician
32 months ago
Here comes the disguised and not-so-disguised casual racism...
Rating: 8 Votes
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ghost187
32 months ago
Miss President Didi is cute :rolleyes:
Rating: 8 Votes
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otternonsense
32 months ago

Here comes the disguised and not-so-disguised casual racism...


Seems to me you're the racist for preemptively bringing it up.

"Adrian Perica, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, represents Apple on the board. A former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Perica has been with ('http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-05-28/apples-beats-deal-sealed-by-ex-banker-adrian-perica') Apple since 2009 and has handled key acquisitions like Beats."

I don't think that the Beats acquisition is something of which someone should be proud.


Ditto, and thanks for mentioning. I would not in 1000 years imagine Apple siding with Beats, whose brand screams of 'cheap and garish pop appeal for teenagers'. The pre-2012 Apple product associations were class, quality, perfectionism, with a touch of colourful quirkiness (iPod ads). It would be far more suitable acquiring a brand like Bang & Olufsen, Sonos or Bowers & Wilkins. Tim Cook's choice of business partnerships is telling. Since he took over, Apple products have become garish enough to guarantee mass appeal to ingenues, and low cost/effort enough to secure Tim's supply chain bread and butter. Insert a bunch of dad jokes (Eddy Cue), Siri jokes, iMessage jokes, and you got the picture.
Rating: 6 Votes
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centauratlas
32 months ago
"Adrian Perica, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, represents Apple on the board. A former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Perica has been with ('http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-05-28/apples-beats-deal-sealed-by-ex-banker-adrian-perica') Apple since 2009 and has handled key acquisitions like Beats."

I don't think that the Beats acquisition is something of which someone should be proud.
Rating: 6 Votes

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