Temu Owner’s Billionaire Founder Becomes China’s Richest Person

After several moderately successful ventures in gaming and e-commerce, Colin Huang got sick and retired. At one point, the young entrepreneur stayed home for a year thinking about his next move.

The former Google engineer eventually started Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform known for selling dirt-cheap products with massive promotions, in 2015. He quickly ascended the ranks of the world’s richest people, with his net worth peaking at $71.5 billion in early 2021.

Like many so-called Covid billionaires, his fortune collapsed just as fast as it was made, tumbling 87% in the span of about a year. Huang’s decline was ...