Colin Huang, the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings and the online trading platform Temu, has seen his fortune plummet by 14 billion dollars in a single day. Huang, who had briefly held the title of China’s richest person, fell to fourth place following a significant 29 percent drop in the value of the company's shares traded in the US.

On August 8, Huang surpassed entrepreneur Zhong Shanshan, whose net worth is currently over 50 billion dollars, according to recent estimates. Huang’s reign as the richest individual lasted only 18 days before his net worth fell to 35.2 billion dollars, as reported by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

PDD Holdings, the parent company of Temu, has been facing challenges both locally and globally. Chen Lei, CEO of PDD Holdings, has expressed concerns about the future of the online market amid increasing competition from platforms like TikTok and Alibaba. The company’s quarterly earnings fell short of analysts' expectations, and Chen has warned of a slowdown in sales growth. He added that the current environment is not suitable for share buybacks or dividends, and there are no plans for such actions in the foreseeable future.

Additionally, PDD Holdings is encountering difficulties on several fronts. Earlier this summer, merchants on Temu protested against what they deemed unfair fines. Moreover, the European Union is considering new regulations that could affect the import taxes on inexpensive goods purchased online.