PDD's founder becomes China's richest person

Colin Huang, the founder of PDD Holdings -- which owns Temu and Chinese retail app Pinduoduo -- is now worth US$48.6 billion, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index said.

He overtakes Zhong Shanshan, the boss of beverage company Nongfu Spring who had topped the list since April 2021, as the world's 25th wealthiest person and the richest in China.

Huang, a former Google engineer, founded PDD, an e-commerce platform known for its extremely low prices and massive promotions, in 2015, the report said. He quickly rose to the top of the world's richest people, with his net worth peaking at US$71.5bn (HK$557.4bn) in early 2021. He is also the first tech giant to top the wealth list in three years.

PDD reported revenues of about RMB 248 billion last year, up 90 percent from 2022.

Its overseas iteration Temu launched in 2022 in the United States, where it amassed a loyal consumer base with ultra-low-cost goods made and shipped from China.

Despite only arriving in Europe last year, Temu has said it has on average around 75 million monthly active users in the region.

The firm's US-listed shares closed at US$138.02 apiece on Thursday, giving it a market capitalization of US$191.68 billion.

Related News:

Li Ka-shing remains Forbes' HK richest tycoon

China's bottled water king Zhong Shanshan surpasses Buffett as world's 6th richest