Dr. Tony Xu Han founded WeRide and currently serves as its Chairman of Board, Executive Director, and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding the company, Dr. Han worked as an associate professor of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at the University of Missouri from 2007 to 2017, and was granted tenure in 2013. In his academic career, he specialized in computer vison and machine learning. He worked as the Chief Scientist of autonomous driving unit at Baidu Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU and HKEX: 9888) from 2014 to 2017. Dr. Han received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Beijing Jiaotong University in 1998, master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island in 2002, and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2008.
Dr. Yan Li co-founded WeRide and currently serves as its Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer. Prior to co-founding WeRide, Dr. Li served as the Director of Engineering of UCAR Technology Inc. from 2015 to 2017, leading the autonomous driving department and connected vehicle data platform. From 2012 to 2015, he worked as a Senior Engineer at Facebook (currently known as Meta Platforms, Inc.), where he was responsible for developing machine learning algorithms for user growth and ads.. From 1999 to 2002 and 2009 to 2012, Dr. Li worked as an applied researcher at Microsoft Corporation. Dr. Li received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Tsinghua University in 1997, master’s degree in Computer Science from Tsinghua University in 1999 and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in the United States in 2009.
Mr. Ichijo Futakawa, has served as our Director since April 2026. Mr. Futakawa currently serves as the division general manager of corporate strategy and business development at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., a position he has held since April 2025. Since joining Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (“Nissan”), a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (stock code: 7201), in June 2017, Mr. Futakawa has held various positions including general manager of the Japan-ASEAN mobility service business department from October 2019 to March 2021, vice president of new business development at Nissan (China) Investment Co., Ltd. from June 2021 to December 2023, and president of Nissan Mobility Service Co., Ltd. from March 2022 to April 2025, where he led the establishment of the company’s autonomous taxi business in Suzhou, China. Prior to joining Nissan, Mr. Futakawa served as country manager in Japan at Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, a company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (stock code: HEN3) from July 2015 to May 2017. Before that, Mr. Futakawa spent approximately nine years at Toyota Motor Corporation, a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (stock code: 7203), from April 2004 to September 2013, where he was responsible for engine management system development and international project management. Mr. Futakawa received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and engineering from Tohoku University in Japan in March 1998, his master’s degree in chemical engineering from Tohoku University in Japan in March 2001, and his master’s degree in business administration from China Europe International Business School in April 2015.
Mr. Jean-François Salles has served as WeRide’s Director since March 2025. Mr. Salles currently serves as the Vice President of Partnerships at Renault Group, a position he held since 2023. Prior to that, Mr. Salles served as Global Vice President of Supply Chain at the Renault Group from 2019 to 2023, a role he held for more than four and a half years after different positions in Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Supply Chain. Mr. Salles first joined the Renault Group in 1996 as a project manager in trim and chassis logistics and continued with the company in Manufacturing and Quality areas. He became director of supply chain for Europe at Renault in 2015. Mr. Salles received his Master of Science degree in Manufacturing and Engineering at Ecole Centrale Paris in 1992.
Ms. Huiping Yan has served as WeRide’s Director since October 2024. Ms. Yan has served as the chief financial officer of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: ZTO, HKEX: 2057) since May 2018 and was the vice president of finance there from January 2018 to May 2018. Before that, Ms. Yan spent approximately seven years serving as the chief financial officer of a number of Chinese TMT and hospitality companies including two years at Zhejiang Cainiao Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. , the logistics arm of Alibaba Group Holdings Limited (NYSE: BABA, HKEX: 9988), and over four years at Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (currently known as Homeinns Hotel Group), a leading economy hotel chain in China. Prior to that, Ms. Yan spent approximately nine years at General Electric Company (GE) in both the U.S. and Asia, serving in various key roles in corporate and operational financial management. Prior to that, Ms. Yan spent over six years at Deloitte & Touche in the U.S. in tax services. Ms. Yan has served as the independent non-executive director of TUHU Car Inc. (HKEX: 9690), a leading integrated online and offline platform for automotive service in China since September 2023. Ms. Yan studied at Shanghai Foreign Language Institute (currently known as Shanghai International Studies University), where she majored in English literature and linguistics and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an accounting major from Hawaii Pacific University in the United States in August 1991. Ms. Yan graduated from the GE experienced financial leadership program in September 2003 and is a U.S.-certified public accountant with a CGMA designation (AICPA).
Mr. David Tong Zhang has served as WeRide’s Director since October 2024. Mr. Zhang has extensive experience representing Chinese issuers and leading investment banks in U.S. initial public offerings, Hong Kong initial public offerings and other Rule 144A and Regulation S offerings of equity, debt and convertible securities. Mr. Zhang had been a senior corporate partner in the Hong Kong office of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP, from which he retired in 2024. Prior to joining Kirkland & Ellis International LLP in 2011, Mr. Zhang was a partner of Latham & Watkins LLP for eight years. Mr. Zhang is an independent non-executive director of Fosun International Limited (HKSE: 00656), a global innovation-driven consumer group; a non-executive director of Noah Holdings Private Wealth and Asset Management Limited (NYSE: NOAH and HKEX: 6686), a leading wealth management service provider; and an independent director of Morgan Stanley Securities (China) Co., Ltd. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Tulane University. Mr. Zhang earned his juris doctor degree from Tulane University Law School in the United States in 1991.
Dr. Tony Fan-cheong Chan was appointed as an independent non-executive Director with effect from the Listing Date. Dr. Chan served as the president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) from September 2018 to August 2024. Prior to that, he was the President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from September 2009 to August 2018. He served as the assistant director of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate at the US National Science Foundation from 2006 to 2009. Between 1978 and 1979, he pursued postdoctoral research at California Institute of Technology as a research fellow and was an associate professor in computer science at Yale University between 1979 and 1986. In 1986, he joined the University of California, Los Angeles as a professor of the Department of Mathematics. Dr. Chan has been serving as an independent non-executive director of Hanison Construction Holdings Limited (HKEX: 00896) and Hutchison Port Holdings Management Pte. Limited (SGX: NS8U) since April 2023. Dr. Chan has served on the editorial boards of many journals in mathematics and computing, including SIAM Review, SIAM Journal of Scientific Computing, and the Asian Journal of Mathematics, and is one of the three editors-in-chief of Numerische Mathematik. He is also an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He formerly served on the NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee and the U.S. National Committee on Mathematics. Dr. Chan received his master’s degree in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology in the United States in June 1973, and his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University in the United States in June 1978.