Colin Huang, founding father of the Chinese language e-commerce agency Pinduoduo, is stepping down as chairman simply as the corporate’s annual person base surpassed that of rival Alibaba
HONG KONG — Colin Huang, founding father of the Chinese language e-commerce agency Pinduoduo, stepped down as chairman Wednesday simply as the corporate’s annual person base surpassed that of rival Alibaba.
Huang, who based Pinduoduo in 2015 and is China’s third-richest man with a internet value of about $56 billion, mentioned that he’s giving up the chairmanship to pursue analysis in meals and life sciences.
Huang’s board seat shall be taken by CEO Chen Lei, in accordance with the corporate.
Shares of Pinduoduo, which is listed on Nasdaq, tumbled 7% following the announcement.
Huang departs with Pinduoduo attaining report progress. The corporate on Wednesday mentioned its annual lively customers reached 788.4 million in December, up 35% in contrast with the identical time final yr, and exceeding the person base of 779 million counted by rival Alibaba Group Holding.
Quarterly income spiked 146% from a yr earlier, to $4 billion. For comparability, in its most up-to-date quarter, Amazon recorded $125 billion in income, $66 billion coming from on-line gross sales alone.
Chen thanked Huang for his management of Pinduoduo over the past six years throughout a convention name.
“We are going to cheer him on as he explores new frontiers for Pinduoduo in years to return,” Chen mentioned.
Pinduoduo’s meteoric rise has narrowed the hole between the corporate and Alibaba, which continues to be the nation’s largest e-commerce platform by income and month-to-month lively customers.
The Shanghai firm stands out due to its workforce buying mannequin, the place customers can get greater reductions in the event that they workforce up with buddies or different customers to purchase in bulk. Pinduoduo can also be identified for promoting recent produce on-line, and has ambitions to develop into China’s largest grocery platform.
Huang can also be leaving in a time when Beijing has ramped up scrutiny of China’s web sector and the anti-competitive practices employed within the trade, corresponding to exclusivity contracts for retailers and heavy subsidies to draw customers.
Chinese language regulators fined Pinduoduo earlier this month over improper pricing practices for its neighborhood group-buying platform that “disrupted market order.”
Alibaba can also be beneath investigation over anti-competitive habits. The market debut of its monetary expertise affiliate Ant Group was shut down simply days after co-founder Jack Ma criticized Chinese language regulators throughout an October convention in Shanghai .
Different expertise corporations, corresponding to Tencent and Meituan, have obtained fines over violations of antitrust legal guidelines.
In January, Pinduoduo got here beneath hearth after an worker dedicated suicide and one other collapsed whereas strolling residence, prompting considerations of lengthy working hours on the firm and the web sector. The incidents additionally led Chinese language authorities to analyze Pinduoduo’s working circumstances
Be the first to comment