For Will Shu, food delivery is personal.
As a former investment banker at JPMorgan in London, he was dismayed with the lack of late-night delivery options that could satisfy his appetite working 100-hour weeks. But instead of resigning himself to supermarket meal deals, he saw a business opportunity. That insight became Deliveroo, his food delivery service founded in 2013.
More than a decade later, Shu turned Deliveroo from a fix for his midnight cravings into a multinational food delivery powerhouse. Earlier this year, DoorDash agreed to buy the British rival for nearly £3 billion (around $4 billion). Now, Shu is preparing to step back as CEO—and walk away with about a $250 million windfall from his 6.5% stake.
“I have decided that now is the right time for me to step down,” Shu said in a statement to Fortune. “Taking Deliveroo from being an idea to what it is today has been amazing.”
Deliveroo’s path hasn’t been without setbacks, including a rocky initial public offering in 2021 in which shares plunged 30%. Still, Shu has been guided by a simple mantra: to go all in.
