1 week Ago By Yue Wang, Senior Contributor
James Peng, chairman and CEO of Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai, dropped off the billionaire list after the company he cofounded in 2016 saw its valuation plunge almost 50% over the past two years. Pony.
ai is now worth $4.5 billion based on the top end of a price range indicated in a prospectus, down from an eye-popping $8.5 billion after a 2022 funding round.
The company plans to sell 15 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at $11 to $13 each via a listing on the Nasdaq, according to its prospectus. Peng, 50, now has a net worth of $720 million at the mid-point of the range, or $780 million at the top, Forbes estimates. Pony.
ai didn’t respond to an e-mailed request for comment. Analysts say investor enthusiasm has faded in recent years as commercialization of its robotaxi service proved slower than expected. “We haven’t seen any sign of mass-scale commercialization,” says Ke Yan, head of research at Singapore-based DZT Research.
“There are also problems to be solved when it comes to regulation and related infrastructure investment.” Pony. ai has received regulatory approval to run fully driverless taxis in four Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
It operates a fleet of more than 250 robotaxis that can be hailed via its app, according to its prospectus, but the taxi service is still in the pilot-project stage. In the first nine months of 2024, the company’s revenues were up 85.5% year-on-year to $39.
5 million, according to its prospectus. Its net loss was $93.9 million, down 10.
2% from $104.6 million a year earlier. Growth was mainly driven by the newer robot truck division, which operates a fleet of 190 autonomous trucks ferrying goods long distances across China, its prospectus shows.
“Investors have initially pinned their hopes on the company’s robotaxi service, ” says Kenny Ng, a Hong Kong-based securities strategist at Everbright Securities International. “But its contribution to sales has actually come down amid slower growth and the company’s focus on robot trucks.” Ng says he doesn’t think commercialization of robot taxis will accelerate over the next two to three years.
Also vying for entry into that business are competitors including Chinese search giant Baidu, which operates the Apollo Go robotaxi service in cities including Beijing and Wuhan. Peng himself was in charge of Baidu’s autonomous driving unit from 2011 to 2016. In 2016, the entrepreneur struck out on his own, cofounding Pony.
ai first in Silicon Valley before expanding to China. Investors who backed Peng over the years include investment firms 5Y Capital and IDG, as well as Japanese automaker Toyota. In 2023, Toyota signed an agreement to produce autonomous driving vehicles with Pony.
ai in a $139 million deal. The Chinese company’s business partners also include state-affiliated automakers GAC Group and SAIC Motor, which are working with Pony. ai to produce robotaxi vehicles, according to its prospectus.
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