Pinduoduo founder Colin Huang gives up chairman role

Colin Huang, the founder of fast-growing Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, has resigned as chairman, CNBC reports.

In a shock move, the company announced on Wednesday that Huang stepped down from the board of directors to explore future growth ideas.

Pinduoduo listed on the technology-focused Nasdaq stock exchange in New York in July 2018, just three years after it was founded. At the time of the initial public offering, its shares were priced at US$24.6. Today they’re trading at US$160.9 and the company is valued at US$197 billion.

In a letter to shareholders, Huang said that Pinduoduo has “become a youth entering adolescence.”

“Observing its rapid transformation and growth, I’m both joyful and anxious. Pinduoduo will have its own growth journey regardless of whether I am nervous, excited, or frightened as its guardian,” he wrote. “I hope that my stepping down as chairman of the board will aid this young person into independent adulthood.”