The owner of Temu became the richest person in China according to Bloomberg

Colin Huang took the top spot among China's billionaires , ahead of bottled water tycoon Zhong Shanshan. This was facilitated by a change in shopping habits, which allowed the Temu discount shopping service to increase its momentum Colin Huang

The founder of the Chinese marketplace Pinduoduo and its subsidiary Temu, Colin Huang, has become the richest person in China, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , the agency writes.

Colin was ranked 25th on Bloomberg's list of richest people. His net worth is $48.6 billion. He overtook his compatriot Zhong Shanshan, founder and owner of bottled water maker Nongfu Spring, whose net worth is estimated at $47.4 billion. He has held the top spot since April 2021.

The day before, Forbes wrote that Colin was ahead of Zhong in the magazine's real-time ranking. Forbes explained that the changes came amid problems at Nongfu Spring. From early May to early July, the former leader's fortune fell by $20 billion as investors questioned the company's strategy of selling new bottled waters at deep discounts.

Colin previously worked as an engineer at Google . In 2015, he founded Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform where you can buy cheap products through sales and promotions. He quickly became one of the world's richest people, reaching a net worth of $71.5 billion at the start of 2021, according to Bloomberg.

However, during the COVID-19 pandemic , his wealth fell sharply - by about 87% in a year, which was due to strict business regulations. After quarantine restrictions were lifted, the entrepreneur launched the global platform Temu, which quickly gained popularity around the world. Bloomberg attributed the noticeable increase in wealth to changes in purchasing habits in China amid the country's real estate crisis.

Since its launch, the Chinese service has taken a leading position in US app stores , targeting Americans struggling due to inflation by offering low-cost, unbranded products shipped directly from China. Last year, the revenue of the service's parent company amounted to about 248 billion yuan ($35 billion), which is 90% more than in 2022.

“In the current economic climate, it's clear that people are looking for value for money, people are looking for low prices,” explained Neil Saunders, retail analyst at GlobalData Retail. “Now is the time for big retailers like Temu to shine.”