Wired
The food delivery service “DiDi Food” withdrew from Japan at the end of May, but Bloomberg reports that an Apple executive resigned as a director of the operating company DiDi in China.
DiDi in a difficult position
Adrian Perica, who retired from DiDi’s board of directors, is the vice president of corporate development at Apple. Apple declined to comment on the matter.
DiDi has lost more than 80% of its listing value since its initial public offering in the U.S. in June last year against the wishes of Chinese authorities, with its app being withdrawn from Chinese app stores. In July this year, the company was fined 8.026 billion yuan (about 160 billion yen) by China’s National Internet Information Office for violating data security and personal information protection laws.
DiDi has released a very short statement on its official website regarding Mr. Perica’s departure.
What kind of person is Mr. Perica?
Mr. Pelika was appointed to the board of DiDi in 2016. It was triggered by Apple’s $1 billion investment in its ride-hailing app in order to solidify its foothold in the Chinese market as the US-China conflict escalated. “It was a great financial investment,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the time.
A former banker at Goldman Sachs, Pelika joined Apple in 2009, reporting directly to CEO Cook.
It was reported in early August that Apple has become more cautious about corporate acquisitions over the past two years amid uncertain economic conditions.
Source: DiDi via Bloomberg, Jiji Press
(lexi)
Source: iPhone Mania