Wang Ning isn’t your typical billionaire. He didn’t build his empire on smartphones, software, or luxury fashion. Instead, his fortune came from a quirky, snaggle-toothed rabbit-elf called Labubu. At 38, Wang has carved out a spot among China’s ten richest people and he did it by turning blind-box toys into big business.
Pop Mart, the company he founded in 2010, is now a $47 billion juggernaut, and Labubu is its crown jewel. The company’s shares have tripled in value this year, and global fans are snatching up the toys from Beijing to Brooklyn. Celebrities like Rihanna, Dua Lipa, and Lisa from Blackpink are flaunting their Labubus. Meanwhile, shoppers are queuing around the block, some even fighting over the latest limited edition.
What’s Pop Mart’s winning formula? The “blind box” model. You never know which figure you’re getting, and that’s the point. It’s part psychology, part pop culture, and 100% gold mine. The model taps into our craving for surprise and our instinct to collect. And for Pop Mart, it’s working spectacularly.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, sales surged by up to 170%. That momentum isn’t slowing. The company is projecting over 20 billion yuan in revenue this year, up from 13 billion in 2024.
Labubu, created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung and licensed to Pop Mart in 2019, has exploded into a global phenomenon. It’s not just the toy’s “ugly-cute” aesthetic that has fans hooked to it, it’s the scarcity, the drops, the exclusives, the flex.
What began as a niche collectible has gone fully mainstream. And yet, the appeal is oddly personal. Fans post their Labubu hauls online, trade dupes, hunt exclusives, and flex rare editions like badges of status. The character’s cultural crossover is rare for an Asian IP, breaking into the West with ease. Pop Mart has cracked the formula that few in the toy world ever manage.
At just 38, Wang is not only the youngest in China’s billionaire elite but also one of its most unconventional. His wealth wasn’t made from commodity goods or real estate, but from characters that started in comic art circles and blew up through social media, influencer culture, and global pop fandom.
But what’s next for Pop Mart? That’s the billion-dollar question. Can Pop Mart create the next Labubu? Will collectors tire of the formula? The company’s future hinges on its ability to keep innovating, not just in toy design but in how it drives culture.
But for now, Wang Ning has done what few ever could. He turned a rabbit-like mischief-maker with jagged teeth into a global icon. And in doing so, he’s rewritten the rules of what it means to be a cultural entrepreneur in the 21st century.
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