Tony Xu

Tony Xu (; born Xu Xun, 1983/1984) making Xu's net worth an estimated $2.8 billion as of April 2021. He and his wife Patti are signatories to the Giving Pledge.

Early life and education Xu was born in Nanjing, China. In 1989, his parents immigrated to Champaign, Illinois. His mother, Julie Cao, was a Chinese doctor who later opened acupuncture and medical clinics in Champaign and the San Francisco Bay Area. His father was a professor in China who studied aerospace engineering and applied mathematics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he earned his Ph.D. He legally changed his name from Xu Xun to Tony Xu, inspired by his favorite television series, Who's the Boss?, in which Tony Danza plays Tony Micelli.

Career

Early in his career, Xu interned at the financial services and digital payments company Square, Inc. and completed business development work for the e-commerce app RedLaser.

Xu co-founded the delivery platform DoorDash in 2013 with Stanford classmates Andy Fang, Evan Moore, and Stanley Tang; the group had previously worked together to launch the predecessor delivery service PaloAltoDelivery.com in 2012. Xu has said his immigrant parents, and especially his mother's restaurant work, helped inspire DoorDash. made him a billionaire at the age of 36.

In 2020, Xu was included in Fortune "40 Under 40" list. In 2026, he was listed under Forbes "Self-Made 250: The Greatest Living Self-Made Americans".

Board service and investments In addition to DoorDash's board of directors, Xu is a board member of the Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation and an executive council member of TechNet.

In January 2022, Xu joined the board of directors of Meta Platforms.

Xu has invested in the blockchain technology provider Alchemy, as well as ghost kitchens All Day Kitchens and Local Kitchens.

Charities Signatories to the Giving Pledge, he and his wife Patti have made significant donations in support of Berkeley, Northwestern, and the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

Personal life Xu lives in San Francisco. He and his wife Patti met at church while they were undergraduates at Berkeley and married in 2013; the couple have two children.

Xu enjoys running and used to participate in marathons. and has credited the sport and television for helping him learn English.

Publications