Pinduoduo founder and CEO Huang Zheng’s wealth soared to $14 billion with the public listing of his social e-commerce app, local media is reporting (in Chinese). At the age of 38, Huang is now one of the youngest tech moguls in China and is ranked the 13th wealthiest billionaire in the country.
The Tencent-backed Pinduoduo made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. The startup priced its IPO at $19 per share a day prior to its public debut. Its stock jumped more than 40% on the first day of trading, closing at $26.70.
According to the latest reports, the company have raised $1.6billion in the IPO and is currently valued at over $60 billion. The deal is said to be one of the largest Chinese tech IPOs of the year in the US.
After closing on Thursday, Huang’s—who owns a 46.8% stake with aggregate 89.8% voting power—net worth was at $14 billion, surpassing JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong’s $1.08 billion.
The incredible rise of Pinduoduo, Tencent’s most powerful Taobao rival
Huang said in a recent interview that Pinduoduo’s success can be attributed to the rise of social network and mobile payment. “People are spending a lot of time of mobile phones and apps, like WeChat and QQ, and also you can easily pay money using a cell phone. So, the infrastructures are ready, and these are the fundamentals of PDD’s success.”
Prior to launching Pinduoduo, Huang founded several ventures including consumer electronics e-commerce site Ouku.com, marketing service Leqi, and a WeChat-based game startup.
The three-year-old Pinduoduo enjoyed a quick rise to popularity when it launched in 2015. Dubbed as the “Groupon of China,” Pinduoduo’s unique business model sent a wave of disruption to the existing online retail market, which was largely dominated by Alibaba and JD.com.
As of the end of March, the company had tallied over 295 million active buyers and 103 million active monthly mobile users on its platform. According to consulting firm Jiguang, Pinduoduo’s daily active users (DAU) surpassed that of JD.com in January. Pinduoduo’s DAU has reached 55.9 million in June, coming closer to rival Alibaba’s online marketplace Taobao’s 172 million.