From Ugly-Cute to Billion-Dollar icon! How Labubu turned Pop Mart’s Wang Ning into China’s youngest top 10 billionaire

Labubu, the wide-eyed, scruffy toy that’s been called everything from “ugly-cute” to downright bizarre, is doing more than dominating collector feeds, it’s rewriting the rules of consumer culture and catapulting its creator into the financial stratosphere. Wang Ning, the 38-year-old founder of Pop Mart, has been named the 10th richest person in China with a staggering net worth of $22.7 billion, according to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List.

He has also become the youngest member of China’s billionaire top ten, rubbing shoulders with titans like Zhang Yiming (ByteDance) and Ma Huateng (Tencent).

At the heart of this meteoric rise is Pop Mart’s unconventional hero 'Labubu', a character dreamt up by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung in 2019. Labubu’s launch tapped into the explosive “blind box” phenomenon, a collectible format that blends mystery, scarcity and game-like thrill. With fans ranging from Gen Z TikTokers to Rihanna and BLACKPINK’s Lisa, Labubu has transcended its quirky aesthetic to become a global fashion and pop culture statement.

Far from being a niche toymaker, Pop Mart has grown into a cultural force with a HK$365 billion valuation, with shares trading at 50x projected 2025 earnings. The company reported 170% YoY sales growth in Q1 2025 alone, signaling the scale of demand that extends well beyond Asia into Europe and the U.S.

What makes this story remarkable is not just the success of a single character, but how it represents a larger shift in consumer behavior, where emotion, storytelling and social media virality often matter more than traditional aesthetics. The blind box model gamifies consumer desire and Labubu’s polarizing design proves that today’s icons don’t need universal appeal, just deep fandom and digital momentum.

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