The founder of China's biggest car website later started his own carmaker. Li Xiang launched autohome.com.cn in 2005 to sell online ads to the auto industry. By 2013 it ranked first among China's automotive websites in daily visitors and time spent. Its forums held 7.7 million registered users. Every day its editors posted about 600 articles and 1,200 photos for car shoppers across China.

Reviews Before Showrooms

Li started a computer site, pcpop.com, in 2000 before turning to cars. Autohome tested and reviewed cars itself, instead of relying only on what automakers said. Buyers used it to compare models and prices before visiting a dealer. Automakers and dealers paid to advertise and to reach those buyers. Before the IPO, Australia's Telstra controlled the company, and Li served as its president.

A Founder Who Built Cars

Autohome sold American depositary shares at $17 in December 2013, raising about $133 million, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ATHM. Telstra kept control after the offering through Class B shares, whose voting power depended on how much of the company it held. Li Xiang later founded Li Auto, the electric carmaker. Autohome remains a public company and still trades on the NYSE as ATHM.

Cover: An Imperial Carriage, Kitagawa Utamaro. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for an imperial carriage (cars).