China’s venture capital ‘godfather’ Neil Shen exits board of food delivery giant Meituan

Neil Shen Nanpeng, the billionaire founder of Chinese venture capital firm HongShan, formerly Sequoia China, has stepped down as a non-executive director at Meituan after nine years on the board of the on-demand local services giant.

Shen, 56, retired from that role owing to “other business commitments”, and there is no disagreement between him and the Beijing-based company’s board, according to Meituan’s filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on June 14.

Known as China’s venture capital “godfather” for his investments in some of the country’s most successful internet companies, Shen earlier this month was ranked No 3 in Forbes’ 2024 Midas List of the world’s top 100 venture capitalists. The 23rd annual ranking primarily credited Shen for investing in social media powerhouse ByteDance, owner of hit short video platforms TikTok and Douyin.

Shen’s exit from Meituan’s board, which he joined in October 2015, marks his latest high-profile corporate departure, after leaving similar roles at Shanghai-listed BTG Hotels in April and budget online retailer Pinduoduo in November 2022.

HongShan had been gradually cutting its stake in Meituan since China’s top food delivery services provider debuted in Hong Kong on September 20, 2018. The venture capital firm has cashed out more than HK$50 billion since 2018, and currently holds a 1.7 per cent stake in Meituan.