Chinese Tycoon Abruptly Quits Tech Giant He Founded As It Grows Bigger Than Ever

Pinduoduo’s founder stepped down suddenly this week, shaking investors who had watched him take the Chinese e-commerce company from nothing to a potential Alibaba competitor in less than a decade.

Colin Huang’s decision to resign as chairman wasn’t a complete surprise. The 41-year-old entrepreneur already quit as CEO last summer, and was expected to eventually leave leadership at Pinduoduo altogether.

But his exit still came faster than expected, and during an uncertain time for many of China’s internet firms as Beijing works to rein in the sector.

Huang will explore “new, long-term opportunities”, the company said in a statement on Wednesday, as it released figures stating it was now China’s largest e-commerce firm.

Shares in Pinduoduo, valued at close to $200bn (£143bn), fell by nearly 8% following the news, wiping about $4bn from Mr Huang’s wealth.

The former Google employee was briefly ranked the second-richest person in China last year, following a surge in sales at his e-commerce business.

Pinduoduo’s 788m active buyers in 2020 overtook Jack Ma’s Alibaba’s 779m annual shopper count for the first time.

Its novel features include team buying, where customers come together to purchase more units at a lower price. They can also play games on the site and are sometimes rewarded with gifts.