Sandy Ran Xu made history in May 2023 as she took the helm as the Chief Executive Officer of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, becoming the first woman to hold this prestigious position. Prior to her elevation to CEO, she served as the Chief Financial Officer of the company for three years, contributing significantly to the company's financial strategy and growth.
Under Xu's leadership, the company achieved remarkable milestones, recording a substantial $152 billion in revenue in 2022. Richard Qiangdong Liu, the Chairman of JD.com, credited her with leading the company's growth during her tenure as CFO. He expressed confidence in Xu’s ability to provide strong leadership for the company in the face of challenges.
Before joining JD.com in 2018, Xu built an impressive career, spending nearly two decades with PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian LLP in Beijing and PricewaterhouseCoopers in San Jose, ultimately becoming an audit partner. Her extensive financial expertise is complemented by her status as a Certified Public Accountant in both China and the United States.
Xu's influence extends beyond JD.com. She currently serves on the board of directors for Yonghui Superstores, a significant supermarket chain with a market capitalization of $3.9 billion. In November 2023, she added another feather to her cap by joining the board of directors for Baidu, a prominent Chinese tech firm.
Further, Xu's appointment as the company's CEO coincided with China's emergence from years of COVID isolation, entering an unexpected economic downturn. Despite economic challenges, JD.com reported beating earnings expectations in the second quarter of 2023. The company, which generated $155 billion in revenue in 2022, faces pressure from declining consumption and fierce competition from e-commerce rivals like Pinduoduo and ByteDance-owned TikTok.
JD.com, under her leadership, is also actively participating in the race to develop China's premier ChatGPT-like AI tool. In June, the company unveiled ChatRhino, a large language model slated to be offered to enterprise clients in the coming year.
As she takes on the role of CEO, Xu expressed her commitment to further driving the company's sustainable high-quality growth and creating value for customers, business partners, and society.