The World’s Most Anonymous CEO Is About to Take Center Stage
When employees at fashion giant Shein crowded into an elevator in the company’s Guangzhou office at the end of one workday this summer, no one took notice of Sky Xu. The quiet man in the corner was one of the wealthiest people in China, the driving force behind an app that has quickly become one of the top shopping destinations in the world—and the boss of everyone riding the elevator. With Xu that day was Frances Townsend, a senior adviser to Shein.
When they left the building, she said to him she was amazed that the workers didn’t seem to recognize their chief executive. Xu responded matter-of-factly: “That’s not our culture." Shein’s employees aren’t the only ones who don’t know who Xu is. One widely used photo in Chinese-language articles about him is actually of another entrepreneur with the same surname.
Reports in international media outlets have given his English name as Chris. Xu, whose Chinese name is Xu Yangtian, has sometimes gone along with it, even signing a company report on sustainability as Chris Xu last year. The company has since made clear he goes by Sky Xu.
The company Xu built from scratch has won over tens of millions of young shoppers in the U.S., Europe and Latin America with its ultra-affordable trendy clothing. Now, Shein is preparing for an initial public offering in the U.S. The listing could be one of the biggest IPOs in years, and it will push Xu onto the global stage.
Investors often expect CEOs to be the face of their companies when they go public and afterward, communicating their strategic plans, painting their vision for the future and answering to shareholders. Xu may no longer have the luxury of being anonymous. Xu grew up in Zibo, a hardscrabble industrial city in Shandong province.
. Read more on livemint.com
