Also, South Korea is investigating Samsung business structure and FlipKart angel hits it big

Didi to stop services in China for one week to perform driver checks — [Reuters]

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing said on Friday that it would temporarily suspend its hitch services in China after a rider was murdered by her driver in Zhengzhou, China last week.

According to Reuters, the company will be using the week to perform driver checks to makes sure this type of incident is not repeated.

The company said it needs to “win back the trust” of its customers and called the incident a tragedy. The company also apologized to the woman’s family.

The 21-year-old was killed on her way from the Zhengzhou airport to the city center. The accused has not been apprehended and Didi is offering a US$160,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

The incident has sparked a huge social media debate in China and has quickly become a major challenge for Didi.

Regulators in South Korea investigating Samsung ownership structure — [Reuters]

South Korean officials are investigating the relationship between the various companies under Samsung Group with the theory that the ownership web has allowed Jay Y. Lee to maintain control of the company despite a lack of investment.

According to Reuters, the chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission said the current Samsung structure is not sustainable. The company is split between Samsung C&T, Samsung Life Insurance, and Samsung Electronics.

While similar structures have been commonplace in South Korea for years, the corruption scandal that deposed the former President Park Geun-hye has made the public less tolerant of this family-owned structure. Lee was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail for bribery in relations to the scandal but he eventually walked-free after being detained for about one year.

First Flipkart angel investor nabs US$20 million pay-out from Walmart deal — [LiveMint]

Ashish Gupta, an entrepreneur-turned-investor with an impressive career, is said to have made US$20 million dollars as the result of being the the first Angel Investor in the Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart, according to LiveMint.

Gupta invested 10 lahks (US$15,000) in the company back in 2009, so his payout is quite impressive.

Gupta is the Founder of Helion Ventures, a failed VC firm that maintains a good reputation despite collapsing after a string of executives left the firm to start their own ventures. He also sold his price comparison startup, named Junglee, to Amazon for US$240 million in 1998.

Walmart officially bought Flipkart for US$16 billion on Thursday.\`

Founder Sachin Bansal also has moved on from the company.

Boxing great Floyd Mayweather hopes to remain undefeated with u-Hop investment — [e27]

Floyd Mayweather, the undefeated boxing legend, is hoping he can land another knockout victory with an investment in the Philippines ride-hailing startup u-Hop.

The investment will be used to expand the service to the United States — bringing the fairly small startup in direct competition with Uber and Lyft. u-Hop will start services in Los Angeles and San Francisco with a launch in Dallas on the horizon.

The company is also eyeing a Southeast Asia expansion with potential launches in Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

Xiaomi plans to bring smarthomes to US, but will not launch phones in country — [TechCrunch]

The Chinese smartphone maker, Xiaomi, will be bringing its smart home products to the American market but is still refraining from launching its mobile phones in the country, according to TechCrunch.

The company has a range of products in the US and has been a driving force behind the growth of the dockless scooter industry that is booming in Silicon Valley.

—

The post Today’s top tech news; May 11: Didi to halt hitch services for one week after rider murdered appeared first on e27.