The throne of 'China's richest man' has changed its owner.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows that 44 year old Pinduoduo founder Huang Zheng has topped the list of China's richest people. With a net worth of 48.6 billion US dollars (approximately 348.54 billion yuan), he surpassed China's bottled water king, Zhong Suisui, who has been at the top since April 2021 (47.4 billion US dollars, approximately 339.93 billion yuan).
Despite the passing of the e-commerce dividend period, Pinduoduo is still able to maintain high growth thanks to its low price strategy. According to Pinduoduo's first quarter 2024 financial report, during the reporting period, Pinduoduo achieved revenue of 86.81 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 130.66%; Achieve a net profit of 28 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of approximately 246%.
At the same time, Pinduoduo's "overseas version" Temu has had a boosting effect on its operations. Temu quickly climbed to the top of the US App Store in September 2022, targeting American consumers under inflationary pressure who prefer cheap, unbranded products shipped directly from China.
According to IT Home, Temu's sales in the first half of this year reached $20 billion (approximately RMB 143.41 billion), with a GMV of approximately $12 billion (approximately RMB 86.05 billion) in the second quarter, accounting for nearly 45% of the US market.
It is worth mentioning that in the Fortune Global 500 list recently released, Pinduoduo made its debut on the list, ranking 442nd with a revenue of 34.981 billion US dollars (approximately 250.87 billion yuan). According to Fortune, Pinduoduo's success story reflects how an emerging e-commerce platform quickly gained a foothold in the market by deeply understanding the needs of users in the lower tier market.
On multiple rich lists, technology entrepreneurs represented by Huang Zheng have performed outstandingly.
According to the Hurun Global Rich List, the wealth of four Chinese technology industry entrepreneurs or families has entered the top 100 globally. Huang Zheng ranks 24th globally; Tencent's Pony Ma ranks behind with a wealth of 250 billion yuan, ranking 36th globally; Next is Ding Lei from NetEase, whose wealth is 210 billion yuan and ranks 43rd globally; The Jack Ma family of Alibaba ranks third with a wealth of 150 billion yuan, ranking 82nd globally.
The rapid development of Pinduoduo has helped Huang Zheng become the richest man in China, and the stock price of Nongfu Spring, a subsidiary of Zhong Suisui, is like riding a roller coaster with ups and downs.
In just one week from March 1st to March 8th this year, Nongfu Spring's stock price fell by 6.53%, and its market value evaporated by HKD 32.6 billion. As of the close on August 8th, Nongfu Spring's stock price hit a historic low of HKD 28.95 per share, with a decline of 34.71% for the year.
Zhong Suisui has been the richest person in China for four consecutive years. In September 2020, Nongfu Spring successfully landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Zhong Suisui once surpassed BAT giants Ma Huateng, Jack Ma, and others with a net worth of 57.8 billion US dollars. When Zhong Suisui ranked 18th on the Forbes Chinese Rich List in 2015, her assets were still $10.3 billion.
(Time Finance Reporter Comprehensive Self Fast Technology, IT Home, Dahe Financial Cube, Fortune Global Rich List, Hurun Global Rich List, etc.)