Tony Xu. Image: Meta
Mark Zuckerberg said Tony Xu’s experience in both tech and commerce would help the company as it ‘builds towards the metaverse’.
DoorDash CEO and co-founder Tony Xu is joining Meta’s board of directors.
The Facebook parent company revealed the news yesterday (11 January) and said the appointment is effective immediately.
Xu has been chief executive and a board member at food ordering and delivery platform DoorDash since 2013, and became a billionaire after its 2020 IPO.
He has overseen growth at DoorDash, which now has a 57pc share of the US meal delivery market. The San Francisco-headquartered company is also muscling its way into Europe following its recent acquisition of Finnish food and grocery delivery start-up Wolt.
Xu’s addition to the Meta board suggests that e-commerce may be a strong focus for the company as it looks to build out its vision for a ‘metaverse’ future.
“Tony has built a great service for millions of people to get food and more from hundreds of thousands of restaurants and small businesses,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
“I’ve always thought it’s important to have great tech leaders on our board, and Tony has direct experience both running a tech company and solving complex challenges in commerce. I look forward to learning from his perspective as we build towards the metaverse.”
Xu added that “millions of local merchants use Meta’s tools to grow and run their businesses every month” and he is looking forward to working with the board as the company “enters the next stage of its journey”.
His appointment brings the number of people on the Meta board to 10. Along with Zuckerberg and company COO Sheryl Sandberg, members of the board include entrepreneur and investor Marc Andreessen, PayPal’s Peggy Alford, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and Silicon Valley heavyweight Peter Thiel.
While Meta is adding a big name to its board, the company recently lost a senior figure from its ranks. Earlier this week, it was reported that head of communications John Pinette has left his position after more than two years.
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