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Chinese fast-fashion billionaire Sky Xu has seen his holding in Shein fall to roughly $6.3 billion after the retailer lost about $5 billion in market value in its first week as a public company.
Shein closed 19 percent below its HK$48.56 offer price after five sessions, even after a 3.2 percent gain on Monday, its first since listing. That is the second-worst opening-week performance among companies raising at least $1 billion in a Hong Kong listing, behind Baidu's 19.9 percent fall, according to Bloomberg data. Market value has dropped to about $21 billion from roughly $26 billion.
Bloomberg valued Xu's holding at about $8 billion at the offer price, based on a stake of about 30 percent, down more than $15 billion from over $23 billion when Shein was near its peak. The company was valued at about $100 billion in a 2022 funding round.
Control unchanged
Shares sold in the offering carry one-tenth the voting rights of founder shares. Xu and co-founders Maggie Gu, Molly Miao and Tony Ren retain about 90 percent of voting rights.
Xu, 43, is among the most private founders of any company of Shein's scale, giving no interviews and making few public appearances.
Why investors balked
Shein posted a $99 million loss in the first quarter against a $395 million profit a year earlier. Revenue grew 8 percent in 2025, down from 21 percent in 2024 and short of the company's target. It told investors first-half 2026 revenue growth would broadly match the 1.1 percent recorded in the first quarter, with operating margin slightly lower, citing new European import charges, pricing pressure and weaker Middle East demand linked to the Iran war.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Catherine Lim attributed the selloff mainly to company-specific concerns around tariffs, fulfilment costs and execution risk in Shein's marketplace transition, alongside broader scepticism toward cross-border e-commerce.
The end of the US tariff exemption for low-value imports and tighter European parcel rules have undercut a core part of the model, while Temu has intensified competition. Shein attempted listings in New York and London before turning to Hong Kong.
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