Didi, the Chinese transportation behemoth that acquired Brazilian ride-hailing service 99 back in January, has replaced 99’s chief executive with one of its own, Recode reports.
Stepping in to replace Peter Fernandez is Tony Qiu, who most recently oversaw Didi’s luxury business. Before joining Didi, Qiu had stints at Morgan Stanley and Bain Capital.
This leadership change comes just a couple of days after Didi launched its ride-hailing service in Mexico. As TechCrunch’s Jon Russell noted, Mexico is Didi’s first organic expansion into other markets. In Brazil, Didi acquired 99 and in Taiwan, Didi used a franchise-based model.
It’s not clear what will happen with Fernandez, but I’ve reached out to Didi to learn more. Prior to becoming chief executive at 99, Fernandez served as the company’s chief product officer for nearly one year. He had previously spent about five years at Google, where he was head of YouTube and, at one point, head of mobile and social for Latin America.
