Radar Finance | Text: Mo Enmeng | Editor: Deep Sea

Renren, which once accompanied the youth memories of countless people, is about to close? Recently, many netizens have reported that Renren is currently unable to log in, and when attempting to log in, it prompts that the account password is incorrect, suggesting that the service may have been stopped.

Regarding rumors of service suspension, the Renren team issued an announcement on December 2 stating that Renren is undergoing a "car change" upgrade. After the "new car" is on the road, users will enjoy a more stable, secure, and enriched social experience.

Renren's predecessor was Xiaonei. Among its founding team, the most influential figure today is Wang Xing, the CEO of Meituan. After founding Xiaonei, Wang Xing also founded Fanfou and Hainei, but neither gained significant traction. In 2010, Wang Xing founded Meituan and later built it into an internet giant with a market value of trillion Hong Kong dollars.

Wang Huiwen, the other founder of Xiaonei, was Wang Xing's classmate and roommate at Tsinghua University. Although they briefly separated after Xiaonei was sold, they later fought alongside each other at Meituan. Within Meituan, Wang Huiwen was once regarded as the "second-in-command" after Wang Xing, but he chose to retire in 2020.

Last year, nearly retired Wang Huiwen ventured into the AI field and founded Guangnian Zhiwai. Unfortunately, he had to temporarily halt his career due to illness, and Guangnian Zhiwai was subsequently taken over by Meituan. This year, Wang Huiwen gradually recovered his health and returned to Meituan to lead the exploration of AI applications.

As for Renren's second leader, Oak Pacific Interactive, it witnessed firsthand the glory and decline of Renren. Oak Pacific Interactive, founded by Chen Yizhou, grew stronger through mergers and acquisitions of multiple websites, including Xiaonei. After being renamed Renren, Xiaonei successfully went public, enjoying a moment of great glory.

However, with the rise of mobile internet and social platforms like WeChat, Renren faced increasing competitive pressure, its former influence gradually weakened, and its market value significantly shrank. In 2018, Renren was finally acquired by Donews Media.

Today, Chen Yizhou has gone to the United States, devoting himself to new entrepreneurial endeavors while seeking new opportunities in the investment field. While Donews Group owns many media assets, its influence and value cannot be compared to Renren's peak period.

Renren service suspension? Response: "Car change" upgrade

On December 2, multiple netizens reported on social media that Renren was currently unable to log in normally, with prompts of incorrect account passwords, suggesting that the service may have been stopped. Subsequently, media outlets called Renren's official customer service hotline and learned that Renren had stopped its service, with no known resumption date.

It is reported that as early as June this year, netizens reflected that Renren's photo album data suddenly disappeared, but the official did not respond at the time. After the news of Renren's suspected service suspension spread online, the topic of "Renren has stopped its service" immediately trended on Weibo, with many netizens lamenting the loss of their "youth".

Faced with the escalating rumors of service suspension online, the Renren team issued an announcement on its official website that evening in response. Renren stated in the announcement that it was undergoing a "car change" upgrade. To facilitate understanding, Renren used an analogy: "It's like when you've been driving a fuel car for years and want to try a new energy vehicle."

The Renren team also solemnly promised in the announcement that during this period, all user data on Renren was strictly protected to ensure the security of users' personal information and privacy. At the same time, the Renren team assured users to patiently wait for its "new car" to be on the road, at which time users will enjoy a more stable, secure, and enriched social experience.

As one of the oldest campus social networking platforms in China, Renren carries the youth memories of a generation. In 2004, Facebook officially launched across the ocean. A year later, Wang Xing, together with Wang Huiwen, created a Chinese version of Facebook, Xiaonei, which was the predecessor of Renren.

Since then, Xiaonei was sold to Oak Pacific Interactive, renamed Renren, and listed on the U.S. stock exchange. At the same time, Renren has also tried various business diversifications but failed to recreate its former glory.

Later, Renren was acquired by Donews Media. Radar Finance learned from Renren's official website that the full name of Renren's company is Beijing Renren Interactive Technology Co., Ltd., formerly known as Beijing Donews New Media Culture Co., Ltd. Today, on the Donews official website, Renren is still listed as one of the company's well-known media assets.

According to Tianyancha, Beijing Renren Interactive Technology Co., Ltd. was established in February 2017, with Chengdu Yingfeinites Network Technology Co., Ltd. as its controlling shareholder. Currently, the company is legally represented by Wang Xiaoqiang, who is also the beneficial owner and actual controller of the company.

Notably, Tianyancha shows that in November this year, Wang Xiaoqiang received two new consumption restriction orders, with applicants being Shanghai Jieyou Network Technology Co., Ltd. and Lan Mou.

The founding team shifts gears and becomes internet giants today

Time flies, and among the founding team of Renren, the most influential figure today is Wang Xing, the CEO of Meituan.

Before Meituan was founded, Wang Xing was involved in the creation of Fanfou, a social media company specializing in mini-blogs, and was responsible for its management and operation from May 2007 to July 2009. In 2007, Wang Xing also founded Hainei. However, neither of these websites gained the same response as his previous project, Xiaonei.

It was not until 2010 that Wang Xing founded the group-buying website Meituan. This time, he deeply learned from past lessons, attaching great importance to cash flow management and team building while actively integrating into the operating principles of the business world. After more than a decade of development, Meituan has become an internet giant with a market value of trillion Hong Kong dollars, covering all aspects of users' eating, drinking, and entertainment.

Currently, 45-year-old Wang Xing serves as CEO and Chairman of Meituan, responsible for the company's overall strategic planning, business direction, and managing the senior management team. In the recently released 2024 Hurun China Rich List, Wang Xing ranked 34th with a fortune of 88.5 billion yuan, but his ranking fell by 14 places compared to the previous year, with a wealth reduction of 36.5 billion yuan.

Wang Huiwen, the other founder of Xiaonei, was Wang Xing's classmate and roommate in the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua University. The relationship between the two was extraordinary, with Wang Huiwen once expressing gratitude for sharing a dormitory with Wang Xing as a great fortune in his life, while Wang Xing also regarded Wang Huiwen as a like-minded roommate, entrepreneurial partner, and soul mate for intellectual exchanges.

After Xiaonei was sold, Wang Huiwen, like Wang Xing, gradually distanced himself from the company. After a brief separation from Wang Xing, Wang Huiwen founded a website called Taofang, focusing on second-hand house transactions. However, Taofang did not perform well, so Wang Xing brought Wang Huiwen to Meituan in 2010 to start a business together.

During his tenure at Meituan, Wang Huiwen led the team to stand out in the "Thousand Group Wars" with his strategic vision and execution ability, pioneering the Meituan takeout business, helping Meituan conquer the local life sector and gain a foothold in the ride-hailing market. A series of remarkable achievements made Wang Huiwen gradually become the "second-in-command" at Meituan, second only to Wang Xing.

However, in early 2020, Wang Huiwen, then Senior Vice President of Meituan, announced his retirement. In an internal letter, he explained the reasons for his retirement, including the inability to balance work, family, and health, as well as a lack of enthusiasm for management. In December of the same year, on the tenth anniversary of his joining Meituan, Wang Huiwen completed the handover work as planned and officially retired.

Despite his retirement, Wang Huiwen's passion for the internet industry has not waned. In February last year, the AI wave triggered by ChatGPT swept across China, attracting the attention of nearly retired Wang Huiwen. Inspired by this, Wang Huiwen announced his venture into the AI field, forming a team to establish Guangnian Zhiwai, with Wang Xing also providing financial support to his good friend in Guangnian Zhiwai's Series A funding.

However, just a few months after starting his AI venture, Wang Huiwen had to temporarily pause his AI business due to health reasons, and Guangnian Zhiwai was eventually taken over by Meituan for 2.065 billion yuan.

In April this year, Wang Xing revealed in an internal email that Wang Huiwen had gradually recovered his health and would participate in Meituan's work as a consultant. By November this year, 36Kr reported that Wang Huiwen had returned to the frontline to lead Meituan's exploration of AI applications.

It is reported that the Meituan AI team led by Wang Huiwen is called GN06, with its main business directions including emotional companionship and chatbots. GN06 is relatively independent within Meituan, focusing on exploring AI applications beyond its main business, directly managed by Wang Huiwen and not subordinate to any business group.

Changes in management team fail to lead Renren back to glory

From the timing of the takeover, Oak Pacific Interactive can be considered Renren's second "parent," having witnessed its rise and fall.

Public information shows that Oak Pacific Interactive was founded in 2002 as a comprehensive internet group company integrating entertainment interactive portals, mobile value-added services, and multimedia content transmission. The leader of this company is Chen Yizhou, a classmate of Lei Jun at Wuhan University.

Before founding Oak Pacific Interactive, Chen Yizhou had already made a name for himself in the industry with ChinaRen, the world's largest virtual community, which was later acquired by SOHU, and Chen Yizhou joined SOHU with the company. However, unable to direct the company's development, Chen Yizhou ultimately chose to leave. In a subsequent interview with the media, Chen Yizhou admitted, "It's not interesting to stay there all day without being a major shareholder or having decision-making power."

In November 2002, Chen Yizhou founded Oak Pacific Interactive, which subsequently acquired websites such as Mop, Warcraft China, and UUME. In October 2006, the newly established Xiaonei was also acquired by Oak Pacific Interactive.

At the end of the same year, Oak Pacific Interactive's 5Q campus network merged with Xiaonei. In 2009, the campus network was officially renamed Renren, expanding its service target from within campuses to the entire society.

Under the leadership of Chen Yizhou and his team, Renren was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2011. After the listing, Renren's market value once ranked third among Chinese internet companies, after Tencent and Baidu. In that year's Hurun China Rich List, Chen Yizhou's wealth reached 4.7 billion yuan.

In Chen Yizhou's vision, Renren corresponded to China's Facebook, 56.com to China's YouTube, Nuomi to China's Groupon, and Renren Games to Zynga.

However, Renren's glory did not last long. With the rise of mobile internet and social platforms like WeChat and Weibo, Renren faced severe competitive pressure. In 2013, Renren's once popular game Happy Farm was discontinued. In 2015, Renren announced that its internal messaging function would be discontinued.

At the same time, Renren's market value also shrank significantly. During the fourth-quarter earnings call in 2014, an investor named Jerry Jefferies even directly criticized Chen Yizhou.

The investor stated, "Mr. Chen, I understand that investment comes with risks, but over the past few years, Renren has made excuses quarter after quarter, wasting opportunities to become China's leading social network. While your competitors successfully monetized mobile platforms, you were still busy making excuses."

The investor further mentioned, "You said that customers prefer online video ads over social network ads, but then you sold your online video business. You also sold your group-buying business. Nuomi had potential, but you didn't explain why you sold it except by making excuses. Quarter after quarter, year after year, Mr. Chen, shouldn't you take responsibility and resign?"

In response, Chen Yizhou said, "The competitive landscape in China's internet market is different from that in the United States, and Renren faces entirely different competition from Facebook in the United States. With the rise of mobile social software WeChat, our competitive situation has become difficult." Chen Yizhou believes that China's industry environment is different from the United States, and the investor's ideas are mainly based on the U.S. reference, hoping the investor can understand his position.

Fast forward to 2018, Renren, no longer in its glory days, was sold again. At that time, Donews Media acquired Renren's social network, live streaming, and value-added services for $60 million, and the Renren App was subsequently removed from app stores.

At the end of 2019, Donews Media launched a new Renren App, restoring the social network positioning and functions centered on classmate relationships from the Renren era, returning to the social market. However, the reborn Renren no longer regained its former glory.

According to Tianyancha, Chen Yizhou is currently associated with four enterprises. Among them, three are active, including Qianxiang Century Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd., Beijing Donews Interactive Media Co., Ltd., and Qianxiang Liandong Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

It is worth mentioning that in June this year, "AI pharma unicorn" XtalPi successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the "first AI pharma stock in Hong Kong." Chen Yizhou's name was prominently listed among the lengthy investment roster as the sole angel investor of XtalPi, investing even earlier than Ma Huateng.

Unfortunately, Chen Yizhou was unable to witness XtalPi's listing in person but still received substantial returns from his investment. Before the listing, Chen Yizhou gradually liquidated his shares in XtalPi, converting his initial investment of 1 million yuan into a return of up to 60 million dollars, achieving an astonishing appreciation of about 400 times.

According to an article published by Cyzone in July this year, Chen Yizhou is now in the United States, where he is both an entrepreneur and an investor. Currently, over a dozen executives report directly to Chen Yizhou, 90% of whom are Americans, giving him more time to spend with his family.

Furthermore, facing the current AI technology boom, Chen Yizhou is eager to embrace this era's opportunities and is preparing to establish a professional institution to actively seize and embrace the unlimited opportunities of this era. However, Chen Yizhou's name has not appeared on the Hurun China Rich List in recent years.

As for Donews Group, in addition to Renren, the company also owns media assets such as the Chinese gaming community NGA.cn, the video game console and smart product portal Dianwanbus, and the internet industry news benchmark Donews.com. However, these projects cannot be compared to Renren at its peak.

What developments await these leaders and companies that once managed Renren? Radar Finance will continue to keep a close eye on them.