HONG KONG — Shein secured approval for its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong on Friday, July 10, 2026. This marks the company's third attempt to go public, following unsuccessful bids to list in New York and London.

The company could launch its IPO as early as September 2026. A potential listing could value Shein at up to $50 billion.

Sky Xu founded Shein in 2012 in Nanjing, China, under the name Sheinside, alongside Maggie Gu, Molly Miao, and Tony Ren. Gu serves as general manager, Miao as chief marketing officer, and Ren as chief supply chain officer. Xu rebranded the company to Shein in 2015.

Shein moved its headquarters from China to Singapore in 2022. Its suppliers and warehouses largely remain in China, with the supply chain concentrated in thousands of garment factories in Guangzhou.

Xu was born in 1984 in Zibo, Shandong province, China. He has avoided interviews and public events and has no visible online presence. His English name, Chris, appeared in Shein's first sustainability report in 2022, but he later changed it to Sky, derived from one of the characters in his Chinese name, Xu Yangtian.

Xu delivered a speech to policymakers at the Guangdong High-Quality Development Conference in February 2026. Shein hired Donald Tang, a former banker and media executive, as a senior advisor and later executive chairman to manage relationships during its New York IPO bid. Xu does not appear on Shein's corporate website, and the site's governance section contains no information about company ownership or leadership. He is a collector of antique coins.