By Kane Wu, Helen Reid and Julie Zhu HONG KONG/LONDON, July 10 Shein’s high-profile stock market listing may force its secretive founder and CEO, Sky Xu, to finally come out of the shadows.
The fast-fashion giant secured approval for its initial public offering in Hong Kong on Friday, its third bid at going public after attempts to list in New York and London floundered
Xu, who founded the e-commerce company in China in 2012 as Sheinside, remains extremely private and hard to access even as his firm nears a listing that could value it at up to $50 billion. It could look to launch its IPO as early as September. Xu has avoided interviews and public events and has no visible online presence.
The founder has delegated the public aspects of leadership to others: when Shein was vying for a New York IPO, he hired former banker and media executive Donald Tang as senior advisor and then executive chairman to manage relationships with politicians and investors. But Xu’s aloofness has not always been welcomed by Western partners. The lack of public information about Shein’s leadership contributed to concerns around its IPO from politicians and campaigners in the U.S. and in Britain.