Labubu dolls on display at a Pop Mart International Group Ltd. store in Shanghai, China.
Raul Ariano/Bloomberg
Wang Ning, the founder of Chinese toy maker Pop Mart International Group, has seen his net worth plummet by almost $6 billion in less than a month – as the latest edition of the company’s Labubu series of dolls seems to be losing some traction in mainland China.
The 38-year-old chairman and CEO now has a net worth of $21.6 billion largely based on a company stake, according to Forbes estimates. The amount, as massive as it is, is significantly less than the $27.5 billion the young mogul had back in late August. At the time, optimism over Labubu’s growing popularity once made Wang richer than China’s iconic tycoons including Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma. Now, he’s the country’s 14th richest person, while Ma is 7th, according to the Real-Time Billionaires List.
The change in ranks comes as Pop Mart’s Hong Kong-listed shares have fallen more than 20% since the company released on August 28 the Labubu 4.0 series. Retailing for 79 yuan ($11) each, it features 28 of the rabbit-ish plush toys that come in smaller sizes and a variety of colors. The mini Labubus are still being sold at a premium via Chinese e-commerce platforms including Dewu, where merchants resell products from toys to limited edition luxury handbags they have stockpiled earlier.
But the transaction price of the newest Labubus has fallen 14.3% to 150 yuan each after the product’s August release, according to Dewu. The lowered prices across China’s online flea markets have caused investors to worry about demand for the Labubus and the product’s growth outlook, Kenny Ng, a Hong Kong-based securities strategist at Everbright Securities International, says by WeChat.
Further hurting investor sentiment is JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Monday downgrade of the stock to neutral, he says. The investment bank cited reasons including declining popularity of Pop Mart’s products. The company’s shares ended the day 6.4% lower, after plunging as much as 9%.
“Amid the increasing uncertainties, investors chose to sell and take profit first,” Ng says.
A Pop Mart spokesperson attributed Labubu’s declining prices across resale markets to an increase in production. “The company proactively increased product supply to align with the needs of our fans and consumers,” the spokesperson writes in a statement to Forbes. “The fact the product was significantly more accessible and a greater number of individuals successfully purchased one is a relevant factor.”
But the stock may continue to be under pressure for quite some time, Ke Yan, Singapore-based head of research at DZT Research, says by WeChat. He forecasts adjustments in share prices over at least the next six months, as more investors might choose to take profit.
Despite the recent drawback, Pop Mart is still up more than 180% year to date. The company’s growth might slow down in 2026, partly due to the high base effect this year, Jeff Zhang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at research firm Morningstar, says by email. Billionaire Wang has forecasted in August that Pop Mart could “easily” reach 30 billion yuan in sales this year, after it reported sizzling first half results that included a nearly 400% rise in profit thanks to a global frenzy over Labubu.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2025/09/15/pop-mart-founder-wang-nings-net-worth-drops-6-billion-as-labubu-demand-cools/
