TuSimple co-founder and former CEO Xiaodi Hou is calling for the immediate liquidation of the self-driving truck startup and the return of its remaining $450 million in funds to shareholders. In a letter to the company's board, Hou accused TuSimple's leaders of mismanaging the company's assets and diverting funds towards animation and gaming businesses linked to his former co-founder Mo Chen.

Hou, who was ousted as CEO in 2022, is also suing TuSimple and Chen to confirm that a 2022 voting agreement granting Chen control over TuSimple expired in November 2024. This would revert Hou's voting rights back to him, allowing him to take action against the company's leadership. Hou has created a website, SaveTuSimple.com, to raise awareness about his campaign to liquidate TuSimple and return cash to shareholders, which include Traton Group, Blackrock, and Vanguard.

The website claims that TuSimple's stock trades at $0.24 per share, while holding $1.93 per share in cash alone. Hou argues that through liquidation, TuSimple shareholders "can immediately realize this 700%+ premium to current market price." The move is the latest development in an ongoing fight between TuSimple and some of its shareholders, including Hou, over the company's attempts to send its remaining assets to China.

TuSimple was a pre-revenue company before shuttering its U.S. operations and delisting from the stock market earlier this year. Any cash it has today would have come from investors. Hou and other shareholders have accused TuSimple's leaders of diverting assets towards animation and gaming businesses linked to Chen, framing it as a business pivot. After shareholders raised concerns of self-dealing in an August letter to the board, TuSimple surprised many by unveiling a new AI-generated animation and gaming unit.

Hou has been vocal about his concerns, urging a California district court to issue a temporary restraining order on TuSimple to stop the company from transferring U.S. assets to China as part of an existing shareholder lawsuit. Hou said he was galvanized to action after noticing filings that he says signaled TuSimple was preparing to transfer large sums of money to China.

TuSimple has fought back against Hou, bringing up its own litigation alleging trade secrets theft after Hou launched his autonomous trucking startup, Bot Auto, in Texas last month. The company has also included similar language around the deal with Hou in its proxy statement to shareholders ahead of the upcoming annual meeting, during which they will vote on renewing the six current directors and whether to create a classified board, or a staggered board.

Half of the board's current makeup is TuSimple executives: Chen, TuSimple CEO Cheng Lu, and TuSimple COO Jianan Hao. The other three – James Lu, Zhen Tao, and Albert Schultz – are meant to be independent directors. If the second proposal were to pass, it would prevent shareholders from replacing the entire board in a single vote and it could entrench control with Chen, who would effectively be ensuring his preferred directors stay in place for the long term.

A hearing to expedite the review of Hou's complaint and to decide on his request to postpone TuSimple's annual meeting is scheduled for December 2. TuSimple did not respond to requests for comment. The ongoing battle between Hou and TuSimple's leadership raises questions about the future of the company and the fate of its remaining assets.