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Pinduoduo founder now China’s second-richest person as antitrust probe looms over bigger rivals
- Colin Huang has overtaken Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Tencent’s Pony Ma to become China’s second-richest person with a net worth of US$63.1 billion
- Regulators recently fined both Alibaba and Tencent-backed China Literature over unreported acquisitions, as part of a larger crackdown against Big Tech
Coco Fengin Beijing
Colin Huang, the founder and chief executive of budget e-commerce marketplace Pinduoduo, has overtaken Alibaba Group Holding’s Jack Ma and Tencent Holdings’ Pony Ma Huateng to become the country’s second-richest person with a current net worth of US$63.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Shares of Nasdaq-listed Pinduoduo rose 7.77 per cent on Wednesday in New York, lifting its market capitalisation to nearly US$220 billion – the second day in a row that the five-year-old start-up surpassed US$200 billion in value.
Huang’s wealth is now second in China only to Zhong Shanshan, the low profile chairman of bottled water giant Nongfu Spring that just completed a record-breaking HK$677 billion (US$87 billion) Hong Kong IPO in September 2020.
China’s Zhong Shanshan overtakes Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest
China’s Zhong Shanshan overtakes Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest
Since Beijing drafted a document to crack down on monopolies in the “platform economy” in early November, the fate of companies that run the country’s largest e-commerce, delivery and social platforms has been in limbo.
The regulators have already taken action against some of China’s largest tech companies. This month alone, it has fined the Post’s parent company Alibaba and Tencent-backed China Literature over unreported acquisitions, and started investigating the former for alleged monopolistic business practices such as requiring merchants to pick only one e-commerce platform as their exclusive distribution channel.
Alibaba’s home province vows to bring progress to platform economy
Alibaba’s home province vows to bring progress to platform economy
Shares of New-York listed Alibaba have tumbled by more than 23 per cent since the start of November, while Tencent’s stock in Hong Kong has declined 6.2 per cent from November 2 – the first day of trading in November – to the close of trading at noon on New Year’s Eve in Hong Kong.
Shares of China’s on-demand services giant Meituan also plunged in early November after Beijing’s draft antitrust guideline was announced, but have since recovered and closed at the same price on Thursday as it did on November 2.
Founded in 2015, Pinduoduo focuses more on lower-tier cities and remote villages than its larger rivals. It announced plans earlier this year to invest at least 50 billion yuan (US$7.1 billion) over the next five years to initiate online retail programmes in China’s rural areas and help create “new infrastructure” to boost nationwide demand for agricultural products.
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