Colin Huang Becomes China’s Richest Person

Colin Huang, the 44-year-old founder of Temu and Pinduoduo, has ascended to the position of China’s richest person, surpassing Zhong Shanshan, the bottled-water magnate and founder of Nongfu Spring.

Zhong had held the title since April 2021. Huang’s rise to wealth has been driven by China’s evolving shopping habits and the success of his ventures in the e-commerce sector.

As of now, Colin Huang’s net worth stands at $48.7 billion (€44.50 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Huang, known for his entrepreneurial expertise, has built a fortune largely from his 25% stake in Pinduoduo (PDD), one of China’s leading e-commerce platforms.

Pinduoduo, headquartered in Shanghai, reported an impressive 751 million monthly active users as of May 2022. Huang’s shares in the company are managed through two British Virgin Islands-based entities, Walnut Street Investment and Walnut Street Management, as revealed in Pinduoduo’s 2023 annual report.

In July 2020, Huang made significant changes to his involvement in Pinduoduo. He announced a reduction in his shareholding and stepped down as CEO. He also revealed his plans to donate a 2.4% stake in Pinduoduo to an irrevocable charitable trust and transferred a 7.7% stake to the Pinduoduo Partnership to support scientific research. An additional 2.7% stake was transferred to an early investor, reflecting his commitment to philanthropy and research.

Colin Huang’s journey to becoming China’s richest person is rooted in his academic and professional achievements. Born and raised in Hangzhou, China, Huang excelled academically, attending the prestigious Hangzhou Foreign Language School at the age of 12. He later pursued studies at Zhejiang University and earned a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin. Huang began his career at Google’s headquarters in 2004 as a software engineer and project manager, eventually playing a key role in establishing Google China in 2006.

Huang’s entrepreneurial career took off in 2007 when he founded Ouku.com, an e-commerce platform specializing in consumer electronics, which he sold in 2010. He later launched Leqi, a marketing platform for major Chinese e-commerce sites, and ventured into gaming with role-playing games on WeChat.

In 2013, health concerns led Huang to take a temporary break from business, during which he developed the concept for Pinduoduo, inspired by the strategies of Alibaba and Tencent.

Pinduoduo was launched in 2015, focusing on collaborative group buying, and by 2016, the company had raised $100 million, fueling rapid growth. Pinduoduo went public in the U.S. in 2018, solidifying Huang’s status as a major player in the global e-commerce industry.

Huang stepped down as CEO in 2020 and as chairman in 2021 to focus on research in food and life sciences, marking a new chapter in his illustrious career. His achievements continue to shape the future of e-commerce and innovation in China and beyond.