DoorDash’s December 9, 2020 IPO saw shares surge 86% on opening day, valuing the food delivery company at $71.3B—more than Domino’s, Chipotle, and Uber Eats combined—as pandemic dining shifts minted another gig economy giant.
The Pandemic Winner
Founded in 2013 by Tony Xu, Stanley Tang, Andy Fang, and Evan Moore (Stanford students who originally focused on small business logistics), DoorDash pivoted to restaurant delivery and grew steadily in competitive markets against Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Postmates.
COVID-19 transformed the business: DoorDash went from 17% US market share in January 2020 to 50% by September 2020. Revenue tripled to $1.9B in first nine months of 2020, though the company still lost $667M.
The Mega-Debut
DoorDash priced 33M shares at $102 (above $90-$95 range), raising $3.37B. Shares opened at $182 and closed at $189.51 (up 85.8%), giving DoorDash a $71.3B valuation. CEO Tony Xu’s 5% stake was worth $3.8B+.
The timing was perfect: Airbnb went public the next day (also surging 100%+), creating back-to-back pandemic IPO bonanzas. Investors bet delivery habits formed during lockdowns would persist.
Post-Pandemic Reality
Unlike many pandemic winners, DoorDash sustained growth. The company expanded into grocery and convenience store delivery, acquired Wolt (Europe) for $8B in 2021, and reached GAAP profitability in Q4 2023.
But the IPO also crystallized debates about gig economy labor practices. California’s Prop 22 (passed November 2020) exempted delivery drivers from employee classification, a controversial victory for DoorDash/Uber after $200M campaign spend. Driver activists protested the IPO, highlighting low pay and lack of benefits.
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