Colin Huang

Colin Huang or Huang Zheng (Chinese: 黄峥; pinyin: Huáng Zhēng, born January 1, 1980) is a Chinese billionaire businessman and philanthropist.[2][3] He is the founder and former CEO of e-commerce company Pinduoduo, which went on to become the largest agriculture platform in China.[4] Huang is also the owner of at least three other limited liability Cayman companies each owning a 7.7% stake in Pinduoduo.[5][6]

Colin Huang
Born
Huang Zheng

(1980-01-01) January 1, 1980[1]
NationalityChinese
EducationZhejiang University
University of Wisconsin
OccupationBusinessman
Known forpart of the team that set up Google China
TitleFounder, Pinduoduo
SuccessorLei Chen

Early life

Huang was born in 1980 to a middle class factory worker parents on the outskirts of Hangzhou, a city in China's eastern province of Zhejiang.[7] Huang attended secondary school at Hangzhou Foreign Language School.

Education

At the age of 18, Huang began studying computer science at Chu Kochen Honors College of Zhejiang University.[8] In his freshman year, he was selected as a fellow at the Melton Foundation, established by VeriFone founder Bill Melton.[9] Huang graduated with a master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin in 2004.[10]

Career

Huang joined Google as an intern, and then started working as an engineer in 2004.[11] He also interned at Microsoft.[10]

After resigning from Google in 2007, Huang started ecommerce site Ouku. He sold it for $2.2m in 2010.[6]

Following the July 2018 initial public offering of Pinduoduo on NASDAQ, Huang's 47% stake was valued at $14 billion, making him the 13th richest person in China.[12][10]

As of July 2, 2020, it is reported that from a June 30 filing that Colin Huang has reduced his PDD stake down to 29.4% from 43.3% as he donated 2.37% to the charitable foundation and 7.74% to the Pinduoduo Partnership.[13][14] Huang donated 2.37% to the irrevocable charity with the aim of promoting social responsibility development and scientific research. On July 1, 2020, Huang stepped down as CEO but continued as the Chairman.[15]

Huang was named the leading philanthropist on the Hurun Philanthropy List 2021 after pledging billions for social responsibility projects and scientific research.[2][16]

On March 17, 2021, Huang stepped down as chairman and entrusted the voting rights of his shares to the Board.[17] The company said in a statement that he will pursue "new, long-term opportunities".[18]

Pinduoduo

The Shanghai-based company Pinduoduo, also known as PDD, was founded in 2015 and reported revenue of 1.4 billion yuan ($280 million) in 2017. In 2019, its revenue was $4.33 billion US dollars (30.14 billion RMB).[19] It became publicly traded following an initial public offering in the United States in July 2018, raising $1.6 billion.[20]

According to Bloomberg, Huang and the Pinduoduo founding team has donated 100 million (2.37% of Pinduoduo shares)[21] to the Starry Night Charitable Trust to "support fundamental research in biomedical science, agriculture and food".[22]

References
  1. Cannon, Christopher. "Colin Huang - Biography". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  2. Choi, Martin (11 May 2021). "Pinduoduo's founder is China's top donor with US$1.85 billion in charity". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  3. LAU, YVONNE. "China's Big Tech billionaires up philanthropic giving as Beijing cracks down". Fortune. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  4. "PDD Stock - Pinduoduo Inc. SEC Filings". sec.report.
  5. "Pinduoduo Inc. Acquisition Statement SC 13D". SEC.report.
  6. "Colin Huang, Shanghai's secretive internet king". The Financial Times.
  7. Liang, Lu-Hai. "Meet Colin Huang, who just stepped down as CEO of $100 billion Pinduoduo and whose wealth exploded by $25 billion in 2020". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  8. JUAN, CHEN. "Young Talents in Shanghai -- Impressions of Pinduoduo Founder Colin Huang". www.yicaiglobal.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  9. Huang, Zheping (6 August 2018). "How Pinduoduo founder became China's youngest self-made billionaire". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  10. "A Former Google Employee Just Became One of China's Richest People". fortune.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  11. "How the pandemic boosted the net worth of China's fastest-rising billionaire". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  12. Fang, Alex. "IPO Of Chinese E-Commerce Firm Pinduoduo Mints New Young Billionaire". forbes.com. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  13. Keatinge, Colin. "Pinduoduo Founder Foundation Donates $100 Million to Alma Mater". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  14. Feng, Venus; Jin, Berber; Schmidt, Blake; Huang, Zheping (2 July 2020). "His Wealth Surged By 25 Billion Then Jack Ma's Rival Quit". Bloomberg. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  15. "Pinduoduo founder steps down as chief and reduces personal stake". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  16. "Hurun Report - Info - Hurun China Philanthropy List 2021". www.hurun.net. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  17. Shead, Sam (17 March 2021). "Pinduoduo founder Colin Huang steps down as chairman". CNBC. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  18. "Chinese tycoon abruptly quits tech giant he founded". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  19. Sun, Leo (12 March 2020). "Pinduoduo's Growth Decelerates Again as It Burns More Cash". fool.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  20. "Colin Zheng Huang". Forbes. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  21. "Letter to Pinduoduo staff: Another baby step of Pinduoduo | Pinduoduo Inc". investor.pinduoduo.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  22. Keatinge, Colin. "Pinduoduo Founder Foundation Donates $100 Million to Alma Mater". www.msn.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.