What happened: Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of China’s biggest ride-hailing platform Didi, sent an email to employees, responding to the murder of a female passenger on August 24. The letter was released to the press on Friday. According to the letter, Cheng said the company would never trade passengers’ safety for profit. In the letter, Cheng Wei revealed that Didi has not profited for the past six years. In the first half of 2018, Didi’s net loss reached RMB 4 billion.
Why it’s important: The reveal of loss of revenue comes amid the accusations that Didi has prioritized profit over safety issues. According to the letter, the costs of promotional campaigns, drivers’ subsidization, and other operations alike were more than RMB 1.2 billion.