China’s new billionaires built brands, not buildings

Pop Mart founder Wang Ning saw his wealth surge sixfold to $25.5 billion this year, propelling the 38-year-old toymaker behind the viral Labubu character to 17th place on the 2025 Hurun China Rich List released Tuesday. Wang’s meteoric rise exemplifies a broader generational shift reshaping China’s ultra-wealthy class, as consumer brand entrepreneurs and “new productive forces” replace traditional real estate tycoons — a transformation with significant implications for marketers targeting Chinese consumers. Consumer brands break into the billionaire club The Shanghai-released rankings spotlight a wave of consumer brand wealth creation. Xu Gaoming of Laopu Gold broke straight into the Top 100 with $9.75 billion, positioning his gold accessories company as what Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf calls “perhaps the first luxury jewelry brand to come out of China.” Tea-based beverage brands posted remarkable gains. Zhang Junjie, the 30-year-old founder of Chagee, became the youngest self-made billionaire on the list with $1.9 billion. Wang Yun’an of Good Me added $2.6 billion, while trading card business Kayou catapulted founders Li Qibin and Qi Yan to $8.4 billion. Consumer products now account for 11.4% of total wealth on the list, up 1.5 percentage points year-on-year, reflecting sustained demand for premium domestic brands. Real estate’s decline reshapes wealth landscape The structural transformation is striking: two-thirds of this year’s 1,434 billionaires were not on the list a decade ago. Real estate developers, who comprised one-third of the Top 100 just seven years ago, have largely vanished — only one remains in the Top 100 today. Industrial products now lead at 16.5% of the list, up 3.8 percentage points, driven by supply chains serving consumer electronics, automobiles and robotics. Total billionaire wealth jumped 42% to $4.2 trillion, with 376 new entrants — seven times last year’s figure. “This year has been a year when the biggest representatives of China’s ‘new productive forces’ have come to the fore,” Hoogewerf said, noting that five of the Top 10 and 60% of the Top 100 represent high-quality production sectors. Implications for luxury This wealth transfer presents a paradox for luxury marketers: China’s new billionaire class built fortunes by mastering the exact brand premiumization strategies that Western luxury houses pioneered. Having successfully elevated domestic brands from mass-market to aspirational — Pop Mart’s Labubu commands secondary market premiums rivaling limited-edition collectibles, while Laopu Gold positions 24K jewelry as luxury rather than commodity — these entrepreneurs approach luxury consumption with insider knowledge of brand building mechanics. This cohort’s sophistication extends beyond purchasing power. Wang Ning understands scarcity, storytelling and community cultivation because Pop Mart’s $7 billion market capitalization depends on them. Lei Jun, whose social media influence drives Xiaomi’s automotive sales, represents a new archetype: the CEO as brand ambassador with tens of millions of followers. The geographic shift — Shanghai and Shenzhen overtaking Beijing — signals more than residential preference. These cities anchor China’s consumer economy and global trade networks, with one in six list members generating over half their revenue overseas. These entrepreneurs traverse international markets as operators, not tourists, developing nuanced perspectives on how heritage, craft and positioning translate across cultures. Their luxury purchases increasingly reflect this operational fluency. Critically, the Hurun Report notes Chinese family wealth has entered “large-scale inheritance,” with next generation successors at record levels. The luxury sector must now consider multigenerational engagement strategies for families where wealth creation, brand building and global market navigation are embedded knowledge — not aspirational learning. Key statistics Total number of billionaires: 1,434 (up 31% or +340 individuals from 2024) Total wealth: $4.2 trillion (up 42% from 2024) Threshold for entry: 5 billion RMB ($700 million) New entrants: 376 individuals (7x more than last year) Dropped off list: 38 individuals Average age: 60 years old Top cities by billionaire count: Shanghai: 152 (+40) Shenzhen: 147 (+39) Beijing: 146 (+31) Hong Kong: 99 (+17) Hangzhou: 84 (+16) Source: Hurun Research Institute, October 2025

Sectors

Insights

Company

China’s new billionaires built brands, not buildings