By Helen Reid, Selena Li and Kane Wu
LONDON/HONG KONG, July 13 (Reuters) – Shein Executive Chairman Donald Tang will step down as his mission of taking the company public nears completion, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday, retreating to an advisory role after three years as the public face of the global fast-fashion retailer.
A Chinese-American billionaire who began his career in banking, Tang has acted as the Western proxy of secretive Shein founder Sky Xu, liaising with politicians and regulators around the world while also representing the e-commerce group at conferences and other public events.
His planned departure raises the question of whether Xu will now step into the spotlight, assign one of his co-founders to that role or bring in another external leader.
CONNECTIONS IN FINANCE AND POLITICS
Tang, 63, will move to a role as senior adviser and continue to work closely with the management team for the foreseeable future, said a source with knowledge of the company’s thinking, adding that there is no fixed timetable for the transition.
Shein declined to comment and did not respond to questions over who will assume Tang’s duties. According to one of the sources, Xu rather than Tang will lead the investor roadshow ahead of the listing.
Tang, who is based in Los Angeles, was introduced to Xu by Neil Shen, founding and managing partner of HSG, formerly Sequoia Capital China, and chosen for the role because of his experience managing businesses between China and the United States as well as his connections in finance and politics, one of the sources said.
Shen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
REPEAT IPO FAILURES
Tang’s initial mission was a New York IPO, with a move to Washington D.C. to lobby politicians there. As criticism of Shein’s use of the “de minimis” customs duty waiver increased, he sought to get ahead of the issue in July 2023 by coming out in support of removing the waiver.
He also sought to defend Shein’s reputation when lawmakers alleged its supply chain in China had links to forced labour, a highly contentious issue for Beijing, which denies any abuses.
After the attempt at a New York listing failed and Shein pivoted to London, Tang became a frequent guest at five-star hotel The Peninsula next to Hyde Park, often bringing his dog, a teacup Australian Shepherd called Satchi.
But the London attempt also failed as the China Securities Regulatory Commission withheld its approval even after the IPO was given the green light by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority, forcing the company to shift to a Hong Kong listing.
PARIS SEX DOLL SCANDAL
Tang hoped to leave a legacy of tighter internal checks to remove sellers of illegal products from the marketplace and better relationships with regulators, one of the sources said.
Last year he spearheaded an internal push to improve regulatory compliance after Shein was hit with hefty fines from French and Italian regulators.
But in November, French regulators found sex dolls resembling children being sold on Shein’s marketplace, triggering a national scandal and French government crackdown just as Shein launched its first permanent store in the BHV department store in Paris.
Tang featured along with Satchi on a giant poster unfurled on the BHV building ahead of the launch, but the poster was taken down soon after and Shein’s French store experiment has since been abandoned.
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Selena Li and Kane WuEditing by David Goodman)
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