What is Xu Yangtian's Net Worth?
Xu Yangtian, better known as Chris Xu, is a Chinese fashion entrepreneur who has a net worth of $20 billion. Xu Yangtian earned his fortune as the founder of the e-commerce fast-fashion retail giant Shein. Known for selling relatively inexpensive clothing, the company is hugely popular with young shoppers, and was valued at $100 billion in 2022. While Shein's business model has largely benefitted from the China-United States trade war, the company has been highly controversial due to product safety concerns, tax evasion accusations, and labor law and human rights violations.
Early Life and Education
Much of Xu's early life and educational background remain a mystery to the public. Different sources have reported different information about his life, with some sources reporting that he was born in 1984 in Shandong and was educated at Qingdao University of Science and Technology. Other sources say he is Chinese-American and was educated at George Washington University. According to his company Shein, Xu was born in China. In the Chinese media, he is depicted as having been an average student from a poor upbringing.
Career Beginnings
Xu began his career as a search engine optimization marketing specialist at a trading company in Nanjing. He went on to co-found the cross-border e-commerce company Nanjing Dianwei Information Technology with Li Peng and Wang Xiaohu.
Shein
In 2008, Xu founded ZZKKO, which was renamed SheInside in 2011. The e-commerce company originally sold wedding dresses and general womenswear. During this time, the company had no involvement in the design or production of its garments. In 2015, SheInside was rebranded as Shein, and made its products available in a number of European countries. By 2016, the company had a team of around 800 designers and prototype-makers to manufacture Shein-branded clothing. The company grew rapidly over the subsequent years, and in 2020 reportedly made $10 billion in revenue, making it the largest online-only fashion retailer in the world.
Shein has been especially popular among young shoppers thanks to its relatively inexpensive clothing. By the end of 2021, the company was valued at $30 billion. The following year, the company reportedly raised over $1 billion from New York-based private equity firm General Atlantic and other investors, pushing its value to $100 billion. Shein also fully moved its headquarters from China to Singapore, but kept its supply chains and warehouses in the former country. Meanwhile, it established distribution facilities in the United States and Canada. Shein's business model is said to have benefitted from the China-United States trade war.
Controversies
Xu and Shein have attracted significant controversies over the years related to trademark disputes, product safety issues, tax evasion allegations, and human rights abuses. Shein has been criticized for its harmful environmental impact due to its disposable clothes and the high carbon emissions from its factories. Concerns have also been raised over its use of lead in its products and its labor law violations, with allegations being made that the company uses forced labor in its supply chain. Additionally, Shein has been sued by various companies, including Deckers Outdoor Corporation and Levi Strauss & Co., for copyright and trademark infringement.
Personal Life
Xu is a highly secretive person, with little known about his personal life. In early 2022, it was reported by Reuters that he had become a permanent resident of Singapore, the city-state to where Shein moved its headquarters.
