Good morning. Tony Xu and three fellow Stanford college students started growing the thought for DoorDash in late 2012 and formally launched the corporate in 2013. Twelve years after its founding, DoorDash is the clear U.S. market chief in restaurant supply, with Xu as CEO main a data- and tech-fueled, forward-looking trajectory.
DoorDash controls roughly 60% of the U.S. food-delivery market—greater than twice the share of its closest rival, Uber Eats. A brand new Fortune characteristic by tech correspondent Jason Del Rey, “How DoorDash became a $85 billion behemoth and won the delivery wars,” affords a deep dive into the corporate.
DoorDash is pursuing growth each into new retail classes and into further geographies. Xu confirmed Del Rey how the corporate’s in-house-built mapping know-how advises Dashers on every part from the optimum place to park close to a buyer’s door to the precise entrance they need to use in a big company constructing. DoorDash leaders consider the info provides as much as significant benefits within the delivery-app wars.
“[With] all of this data, we are trying to build the catalog for the physical world,” Xu informed him. “This repository of information does not exist on Google Maps. It doesn’t exist on ChatGPT.”
Xu’s strategy to management is being intently watched and admired by his friends, together with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in line with Del Rey. Xu serves as a director on Meta’s board.
Some recommendation for tech leaders: “If you’re in technology and you are not making improvements, you are actually decaying. Until it’s over all of a sudden,” Xu informed Del Rey.
There’s loads of danger but in addition an enormous alternative for DoorDash if the corporate’s meticulous technique continues to be efficient and it could possibly keep forward of its rivals, in line with Del Rey. You may learn the whole article right here.
The AI engine powering DoorDash’s subsequent section
DoorDash has skilled a meteoric rise over the previous 5 years and is at the moment No. 394 on the Fortune 500, after debuting on the checklist in 2024 at No. 443. Once I spoke final yr with CFO Ravi Inukonda in regards to the firm’s debut, he additionally pointed to DoorDash’s use of information and know-how, noting that the corporate has constructed a “very efficient logistics engine” that has been powered by machine studying for the previous decade.
A latest report by Klover.ai argues that DoorDash is strategically positioned to maintain dominance within the AI-driven native commerce sector. That is rooted in a self-reinforcing flywheel composed of an unlimited and proprietary dataset; a purpose-built, high-velocity AI and machine-learning infrastructure designed for fast iteration; and a deep, holistic integration of AI throughout each aspect of its operations.
Leaderboard
Doug Larson has resigned as CFO of Past Air, Inc. (Nasdaq: XAIR), a commercial-stage medical system and biopharmaceutical firm, to pursue one other alternative. Larson will proceed to function CFO by Dec. 5, after which Duke Drewell, the corporate’s controller, will function interim CFO. Past Air has launched a seek for a everlasting successor. Larson will serve in an advisory position on the firm by the top of the yr.
Cheryl Paquete was appointed CFO of Terran Orbital Company, transitioning from her earlier short-term position. Paquete brings practically 20 years of management in finance and enterprise operations at Lockheed Martin House. She most not too long ago led high-value portfolios throughout Deep House Exploration, Industrial Satellites, Climate and Earth Science, and superior improvement packages.
Huge Deal
Mercer’s 2025 Nationwide Survey of Employer-Sponsored Well being Plans discovered that in 2025, the typical price of employer-sponsored medical insurance reached $17,496 per worker, a 6% improve, nicely above the speed of inflation and wage progress. A pointy rise in prescription drug spending, which elevated 9.4% on common amongst giant employers (500 or extra staff), contributed to the rise, in line with the report. Notably, extra giant employers coated pricey GLP-1 weight-loss medicines in 2025—roughly 49%, up from 44% in 2024.
For 2026, an excellent larger complete well being profit price improve of 6.7% is anticipated. This can push the typical price above $18,500 per worker, in line with Mercer.
Going deeper
“The S&P 500 could hit 7,000 this week, while Trump hints at a Fed chair pick and Washington eyes this special election” is a brand new Fortune report by Jason Ma.
From the report: “The stock market is about to begin the final month of 2025 on the back of a strong uptrend that has raised hopes the typical year-end ‘Santa Claus rally’ is starting early this season.
“The market’s rebound was fueled by hopes that one other charge lower later this month continues to be on the desk, after some hawkish policymakers beforehand hinted at a wait-and-see stance. However President Trump might additional stoke extra dovish views if he reveals who his alternative might be to take over as Fed chair when Powell’s time period expires in Might.
“‘I know who I’m going to pick as Fed chair. I will announce it soon,’ Trump told reporters on Sunday.” Learn the whole report right here.
Overheard
“Right now, leading labs like OpenAI and Anthropic are following business models that are neither novel nor difficult for technology companies like Amazon, Microsoft, or Google to follow.”
—Scott D. Anthony, a medical professor of technique on the Tuck College of Enterprise at Dartmouth, writes in a Fortune opinion piece. If the main labs don’t develop “unique ways to create, capture, and deliver value, history suggests they are likely to have finite lives as standalone providers,” Anthony writes. His newest guide isEpic Disruptions: 11 Improvements That Formed Our Trendy World.
