Hurun U40 Global Self-Made Billionaires List: Pop Mart's Wang Ning and his family rank second globally

The Hurun Research Institute released the "2026 Hurun U40 Global Self-Made Billionaires List," which shows that there are 108 self-made billionaires aged 40 and under globally, a historical high, with an annual increase of 30.

Among them, the United States ranks first with 50, an increase of 19; China ranks second with 29, an increase of 8. The total number from the US and China accounts for 73% of the list, an increase of two percentage points from last year. India and the UK have 8 and 4 respectively, ranking third and fourth.

Edwin Chen, the 38-year-old founder of Surge AI, becomes the U40 global self-made billionaire with a wealth of 135 billion RMB. Brett Adcock, the 39-year-old founder of humanoid robotics company Figure AI, and Wang Ning, the 39-year-old founder of Pop Mart (09992.HK) along with his family, are tied for second with a wealth of 110 billion RMB each. Brett Adcock's wealth increased by 1,043%; while the Wang Ning family's wealth increased by 132%, mainly due to the global popularity of their trendy toy products, especially the breakout success of the Labubu IP, which has solidified Pop Mart's position as a leading new-generation consumer brand globally.

AI has become the world's top wealth-generating sector for the first time, with 27 entrepreneurs from this field on the list, accounting for 25% of this Hurun list, whereas three years ago, this number was zero.

The total value of the top ten most valuable companies founded by U40 self-made billionaires reaches 13 trillion RMB, with the highest value being OpenAI (5.9 trillion RMB), followed by Anthropic (2.7 trillion RMB), AppLovin (1.4 trillion RMB), Stripe (750 billion RMB), Robinhood (700 billion RMB), and DoorDash (630 billion RMB).

This year, 11 women made it onto the list, a historical high. The list includes 38-year-old Daniela Amodei, whose wealth reaches 26 billion RMB; she is also one of the four co-founders of Anthropic. 40-year-old Qu Fang, co-founder of Xiaohongshu, has a wealth of 21.5 billion RMB. 36-year-old singer Taylor Swift has a wealth of 11 billion RMB, along with 37-year-old Rihanna, whose wealth is 10.5 billion RMB.

Three self-made billionaires emerged in the new tea beverage sector, namely 40-year-old Wang Yunan, founder of Gu Ming (01364.HK), with a wealth of 22.5 billion RMB; 31-year-old Zhang Junjie, founder of Bawang Chaji (CHA.US), who dropped out of school at 11, with a wealth of 8.5 billion RMB; and 35-year-old Nie Yuncheng, founder of Heytea. Additionally, 33-year-old Lu Jianxia, co-founder of Manner Coffee, also made it onto the self-made billionaire list