Unitree’s Blockbuster Debut Vaults Billionaire Founder Into Ranks Of China’s Richest Tech Moguls

Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics saw its shares jump as much as 629% during its Wednesday market debut in Shanghai—an eye-popping rally that pushed 36-year-old chairman and CEO Wang Xingxing’s net worth to $16 billion.

Shares later pared some of the gains to trade at 883 yuan ($131) apiece at the morning close. The bespectacled and soft-spoken Wang, who is also the company’s chief technology officer, first joined the world’s three-comma club in early August when the Hangzhou-based robot maker raised 6.1 billion yuan by selling 40.4 million shares at 150.8 yuan each, with the retail tranche of the initial public offering more than 5,500 times oversubscribed. Forbes estimates that Wang’s stake was worth $2.4 billion at the time. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Investor enthusiasm surged as buyers piled into a Chinese national technology champion. Although practical uses for its humanoids remain limited, the market is betting on the company’s potential amid government support for advanced industries ranging from robotics to semiconductors, says Shen Meng, Beijing-based managing director of boutique investment bank Chanson & Co.

“A 629% surge is within expectations,” Shen says. “But Unitree’s human-shaped robots are mainly used for research, teaching and performing purposes.”

In the prospectus, it highlighted that the entire humanoid industry is at an early stage of commercialization. In the short term, its humanoids will primarily be used for R&D as well as performing on stage. The longer-term goal is to make them assist with factory work as well as household chores, as hardware costs fall and advances in AI make the machines smarter.

The potential might be enormous. Led by China and the U.S., global humanoid shipments will jump from 20,000 units last year to reach 1.2 million units by 2030, forming a $37 billion market in less than five years, according to an April report from BofA Global Research. As their abilities improve, the machines will be “gradually adopted in industrial & commercial scenarios in the coming 3-4 years,” the report notes.

Last year, Unitree’s revenues surged over 300% year-on-year to 1.7 billion yuan, while net profit jumped almost 200% to 278.2 million yuan, according to its prospectus. Its humanoids carry an average selling price of 166,400 yuan.

Yet Unitree faces headwinds including geopolitical risks as it expands. The Trump administration announced in July a ban on imports of new Chinese humanoids and quadruped robot dogs. The firm, which last year generated over 10% of sales from the U.S., says in the prospectus that the ban doesn’t apply to products it already sells in America, but it needs U.S. government approval for newer models.

The company, whose dancing robots have captivated the nation since they performed during China’s 2025 and 2026 Spring Festival galas, launched a high-speed robot dubbed “Superman” right before its market debut. The product can jump to a height of two meters and reach a top speed of 12.66 meters per second—outpacing human records, according to the company.

Earlier this year, it set Chinese social media ablaze by unveiling the GD01, a 3-meter-tall, transformable robot that can carry a human pilot in its cockpit—priced from $650,000. In its filing, the company positions the product as a tool capable of adapting to complex environments.