Not so long ago, Chinese billionaires proudly competed with each other for the title of the wealthiest person. They were happy to take first place in various ratings. However, the local authorities have changed their attitude to people with vast fortunes. Now, Chinese billionaires find their names on completely different lists.
Colin Huang, the founder of Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo Inc., suffered the biggest wealth drop than anyone else in the world. His fortune slumped by more than $27 billion after China’s authorities cracked down on local internet giants. The fact is that the party meetings and reports on the implementation of five-year plans are the only signs of communism in China. Since China is only planning to return to socialism , the local authorities are settling their financial problems by means of businessmen. Once President Xi Jinping announced the policy of universal prosperity, the government began rapidly bridging the gap between rich and poor. However, it is only making wealthy people poorer, instead of making poor people richer. It is an extremely controversial approach, but the gap has narrowed. For example, Colin Huang, who owns 28% of the company with the market capitalization of $178 billion at its peak, has already lost some of his savings. The market value of Colin Huang’s company slid to $125 billion amid the repression by the state. As a result, the management of Pinduoduo has promised to allocate part of its current and future revenue to charity, thus complying with the government’s requirements.
