Labubu doll viral 2025: Labubu fans might be buying the viral plushies for joy, but the biggest smile of all may belong to the man behind the phenomenon, Wang Ning, CEO of Chinese toymaker Pop Mart, who has quietly become one of the richest people on Earth, as per a report.

Labubu Doll Craze Makes Wang Ning One of the World’s Richest

Wang’s net worth has soared by $20 billion in 2025 alone, due to an explosive surge in Pop Mart’s stock, driven almost entirely by the Labubu craze that’s swept through collectors and casual fans alike, according to Business Insider report. As of Tuesday's close, his fortune now stands at an estimated $27.5 billion, Business Insider reported, citing the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

That puts him ahead of big-name tech moguls like Peter Thiel, who’s currently worth $24.2 billion, a remarkable feat for someone who made his billions not from artificial intelligence or cloud computing, but from toys, as per the report.

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Wang Ning’s Wealth Jumps by $20 Billion in 2025

At the start of the year, Wang was ranked a distant 400th on Bloomberg’s billionaire leaderboard, but now, he has jumped to 79th, surpassed dozens of popular rich names, including Michael Dell, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett, in terms of year-to-date gains, as reported by Business Insider.

What’s Driving Pop Mart’s Stock Surge?

Ning's massive net worth rise is largely due to Wang’s nearly 50% stake in Pop Mart, which has seen its share price climb more than 250% since January, according to the report.

Pop Mart’s success this year boils down to one thing: Labubu, the monstor-looking, big-eared plush character that has become a viral sensation. It’s part of the company’s wildly popular Monsters collection, which alone brought in 4.8 billion yuan in revenue, which is more than a third of Pop Mart’s total sales for the first half of 2025, as per Business Insider.

Overall, Pop Mart’s revenue tripled in the first six months of the year to 13.9 billion yuan (approximately $1.9 billion), and operating profits grew fivefold to 6 billion yuan, according to the report.

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A Toy Maker’s Unique Path to Massive Wealth

What makes Wang’s fortune even more striking is how different his path to wealth has been. While many of 2025’s biggest billionaire gainers, like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, have ridden the wave of AI, Wang has built his fortune through collectible toys that have become a viral phenomenon, as per the report.

Pop Mart’s Growth Since Going Public

Pop Mart first went public on Hong Kong’s stock exchange in December 2020, with shares priced below $6 in dollar terms. Fast-forward to today, and the company’s American depositary shares, which trade on the US over-the-counter market, have climbed to around $44 as of Tuesday, reported Business Insider.

FAQs

What is Labubu?
Labubu is a monster-like, big-eared plush toy that has become wildly popular among collectors and fans.

Who is Wang Ning?
Wang Ning is the CEO of Pop Mart, the Chinese toy company behind the viral Labubu plush doll.