The Big Take
Jack Ma’s Biggest E-Commerce Rival Is Coming for Amazon
Little-known PDD has been surging in China. Now its Temu discounts app is rivaling Amazon and Walmart in the US.
The Temu website.
Photographer: Lam Yik/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Jack Ma essentially invented the e-commerce business in China by co-founding Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and steering it to the top of the country’s private sector. But a couple weeks ago, the celebrated entrepreneur called out a little-known rival for outpacing his brainchild and becoming a role model for the tech industry.
“Congratulations to Pinduoduo for their decision-making, execution and efforts of the past years,” Ma wrote on an internal forum, prodding Alibaba’s 220,000-plus employees to “correct its course.”