Deliveroo founder Will Shu steps down after £200m payday as DoorDash takeover looms

Will Shu, founder and chief executive of Deliveroo, will step down once the company’s £2.7bn takeover by US rival DoorDash completes next month.

Shu, who launched the food delivery platform in 2012, holds a 6.6% stake and is expected to make around £195m from the sale of shares and performance awards triggered by the deal.

Shu said his decision to leave came after 13 “intense and amazing” years: “Taking Deliveroo from being an idea to what it is today has been amazing. I’m super proud of everything we have achieved. We pioneered and then redefined a new category. But after 13 years I want to contemplate my next challenge.”

Shu famously delivered many of Deliveroo’s early orders by bicycle before scaling the business into one of the UK’s highest-valued tech firms. The company listed in London in 2021 at £7.6bn, but its IPO was marred by one of the worst opening day performances in LSE history, and shares have never recovered to flotation levels.

The sale to DoorDash marks the latest in a wave of overseas takeovers of UK-listed companies. Deliveroo will leave the stock exchange just four years after listing.

Alongside rapid growth, Deliveroo has faced scrutiny over working conditions for riders and allegations that undocumented workers were operating under false accounts. More recently, it has come under pressure from rising employment costs and slowing post-pandemic demand.

Deliveroo chair Claudia Arney, who will also step down after the takeover, said Shu had been “an incredible innovator” whose leadership created “a British success story that has had a hugely positive impact on the way we eat and shop”.

DoorDash will decide on Deliveroo’s new leadership after a “post-completion review”. The takeover is expected to complete next month, with executives in San Francisco setting the future strategy.

Despite stepping away, Shu leaves with Deliveroo enjoying improving growth and profitability, according to recent updates, though its long-term role within the competitive global food delivery market now rests with its new US owner.