Shein founder Sky Xu faces scrutiny ahead of Hong Kong listing

For more than a decade, Sky Xu built one of the world’s largest fast-fashion empires while staying almost entirely invisible. That’s about to change, whether he likes it or not. Shein, the e-commerce giant Xu founded in 2012, received approval from China’s securities regulator for a Hong Kong IPO around July 10. The company is targeting a valuation between $40 billion and $50 billion, with an initial fundraise of $2 billion to $3 billion. A listing committee hearing at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was scheduled for July 16. A valuation haircut and a change of plans Here’s the thing about that $40 billion to $50 billion target: it represents a meaningful discount from where Shein was valued just a few years ago. A 2023 funding round pegged the company at roughly $66 billion, meaning the IPO would effectively mark a valuation decline of up to 40%. The Hong Kong listing itself is a Plan C of sorts. Shein previously explored going public in both New York and London, but regulatory headwinds in both markets effectively shut those doors. The US listing ran into political friction over the company’s supply chain practices and ties to China, while the London attempt similarly stalled amid ...