On December 29, 2025, Chen Xiangdong, founder of Gaotu Techedu Inc. (NYSE: GOTU), delivered a 2026 New Year's address via a live streaming platform, systematically reviewing the company's development trajectory and key achievements in 2025 and disclosing its strategic direction and organizational thinking for 2026.
During his speech, Chen Xiangdong drew upon his personal growth experiences to delve deeply into the nature of wealth and the levers of life, offering sincere advice to contemporary youth. He emphasized, "True wealth is not about short-term gains, but the compound interest effect formed through continuous accumulation."
The year 2025 marked the 11th anniversary of Gaotu's founding, which Chen Xiangdong likened to "just graduating from elementary school." This year, Gaotu achieved a transition from a single online education platform to a diversified educational ecosystem, covering sectors such as postgraduate entrance exams, civil service exams, study abroad, language learning, programming, and sports, thereby building a full-cycle learning system spanning from teenagers to working professionals. Offline expansion continued to deepen. By the end of 2025, Gaotu had established teaching and operational centers in nearly 30 cities, including Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Chengdu. Chen Xiangdong revealed that he personally visited 18 of these cities to gain a deep, on-the-ground understanding of local needs and strengthen localized operations. In 2025, the landmark project "Gaotu Dream Center" commenced operations in Zhengzhou, Henan, creating a comprehensive service platform for university students that integrates learning, living, socializing, and job seeking. Concurrently, construction began on "Gaotu Zhicheng Port" in Zhengzhou, a facility with a floor area exceeding 300,000 square meters focused on internship bases, innovation incubation, and talent communities, aiming to become an educational innovation hub in central China and boost regional industrial upgrading. Chen Xiangdong candidly stated, "This is one of the most valuable things I, as a native of Henan, can do for my hometown." Since 2022, Gaotu has resolutely pursued the development of "AI + Education." Chen Xiangdong has traveled to Silicon Valley for inspections for three consecutive years, engaging in deep exchanges with top global AI labs and leading Chinese technology companies, and committing to sustained investment "in the unit of hundreds of millions of US dollars." By 2025, Gaotu had established its "All with AI, Always AI" strategy, with its AI system deeply integrated into the entire teaching process: intelligently diagnosing knowledge gaps, dynamically generating personalized learning paths, and providing millisecond-level response Q&A, among other functions. Chen Xiangdong expressed strong confidence in Gaotu's future development in the AI field. In 2025, Gaotu officially established the "Gaotu Foundation," propelling its corporate social responsibility efforts into a systematic and sustainable new phase. Chen Xiangdong disclosed that over the past decade, Gaotu has cumulatively donated cash and courses valued at over 100 million yuan, with his personal donations also amounting to tens of millions of yuan. During his speech, Chen Xiangdong announced that he would donate 5 million shares of Gaotu ADS (currently valued at approximately 100 million yuan) to the foundation, with a focus on supporting educational equity, youth development, and the empowerment of rural teachers.
Looking ahead to 2026, Chen Xiangdong introduced a "Stop-Doing-List." He stressed, "Everyone's life is finite; we must concentrate our energy on the most worthwhile endeavors." Based on this philosophy, Gaotu will focus on three core tasks in 2026: formulating a 3-8 year strategic blueprint, deepening internal innovation mechanisms, and solidifying corporate culture. As founder and CEO, Chen Xiangdong listed "strategic clarity" as his primary task. He is driving Gaotu to extend its vision from three years to eight years, believing that "a major decision is like a great river, formed by the convergence of countless tributaries." Only by clarifying the details can the main direction be ensured to be correct. To this end, Gaotu will continue to optimize its business structure in 2026, concentrating resources on building the main channel of a lifelong learning platform. Regarding innovation, Chen Xiangdong pointed out, "Innovation is not a flash of inspiration, but a systematic capability." In 2026, Gaotu will continue to refine its management training mechanisms, forging a management echelon that combines an educational ethos with business acumen. He believes that only when managers possess "first-principles" thinking and deep user insight can innovation be truly implemented. Chen Xiangdong views culture as "spiritual strength" and an "energy engine." In 2026, Gaotu will strengthen the embedding of its values—"customer first, integrity, responsibility, collaboration, innovation"—into new employee integration, performance evaluations, and promotion mechanisms. In 2025, as the helmsman of the enterprise, Chen Xiangdong completed an intensive period of self-cultivation: reading nearly a thousand books, visiting multiple countries including the US, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East, researching dozens of domestic enterprises, engaging in deep dialogues with two to three hundred top professionals across industries, and maintaining a disciplined routine of early rising and highly efficient work throughout the day. He regards health, reading, and self-criticism as the cornerstones of a happy life. This leadership style of "cultivating both internal and external aspects" has endowed Gaotu with both strategic resilience and organizational warmth amidst rapid change. During his speech, Chen Xiangdong posed a core question: "How does one achieve compound interest in life?" He believes that true wealth is not money, but a compound interest system that can be stacked and amplified—whether today's actions can create greater value tomorrow, and whether today's cognition can support the day after tomorrow's decisions. Chen Xiangdong advised young people to build their own "compound interest engines": professional competence, interpersonal relationships, physical health, and the habit of continuous learning. Addressing the compound interest of career development that concerns young people, he emphasized the importance of choosing to enter industry tracks with a compound interest effect, finding masters within those industries, learning from them humbly, and internalizing their experience into one's own capabilities. Finally, Chen Xiangdong left behind three simple pieces of advice: First, eat well—health is the prerequisite for all possibilities; Second, read more—reading is the only way to resist fragmentation; Third, maintain self-criticism—"Don't be afraid to negate yourself; that is the beginning of growth." No empty motivational talk, no shortcuts, only the warmth and candor of someone who has been there. In 2025, the education industry continued to advance through exploration, with technological changes led by artificial intelligence accelerating. Yet, Gaotu chose a path that appears slower but is incredibly solid: deeply cultivating content, respecting teachers, serving students, and giving back to society. Standing at the new starting point of its 12th year, Gaotu is steadfastly practicing educational long-termism. Under the leadership of founder Chen Xiangdong, the company has long ceased to be merely an "online education company" and is gradually evolving into a comprehensive ecosystem integrating educational services, technological innovation, youth development, and social responsibility. Looking toward 2026, Gaotu's direction remains clear—to benefit tens of millions of students and families through education, and to make society better because of Gaotu's presence.
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