If any individual can be held responsible for the “addictively sweet vape cloud” now enshrouding the globe, it is probably Zhang Shengwei, says Bloomberg Businessweek. Widely acknowledged as the “godfather” of the industry in Shenzhen, the world capital of vape production, this largely anonymous Chinese businessman has quietly grown his online shop, Heaven Gifts, into one of the industry’s biggest players, with 30 million users in 80 countries, and trouncing Big Tobacco in the process. Still, a backlash is coming.
Heaven Gifts’ three biggest brands – Geekvape, Lost Mary and Elf Bar – are youth favourites that have stormed Western markets, leaving regulators wringing their hands. “Zhang’s primary niche” is disposable vapes – “Barbiecore-coloured” baubles in which “flavours are a key attraction”, that have now taken roughly 60% of the US market. The most basic cost only a few dollars; all pack a powerful punch of nicotine. Their popularity worries parents, healthcare professionals and environmentalists, who “wince at the waste” of plastic and all those tiny batteries.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
In Zhang’s biggest market, the US (the company does not sell in China), vapes are fast becoming a geopolitical issue in the wider superpower stand-off. Indeed, the mysterious “e-cigarette titan” stands accused of “flooding” America with illegal products, says Reuters, aided by toothless regulators who are no match for his nimbleness and blatant disregard for rules. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been caught napping, says one public health professor. “It’s a kind of cat-and-mouse game, but the FDA is a slow-motion cat.” Meanwhile, says the Financial Times, Zhang continues milking a $28 billion market via his “sprawling web of investments” in China’s “Vape Valley” and beyond under the umbrella of his holding company, Shenzhen IMiracle Technology.
Reuters.
Zhang Shengwei's deft dance with the FDA
In the early years, Zhang focused on distribution, warehousing and selling vapes directly to customers abroad – excelling in cultivating ties with international distributors, especially in the UK. That stood them in good stead when, having moved from Shanghai to Shenzhen in 2014, they began planning to make their own products. The breakthrough was the launch of Elf Bar in 2021. Unlike his rivals, Zhang was determined to stick with international sales rather than targeting the potentially huge Chinese domestic market. It was prescient – in 2022, Beijing banned the sale of flavoured vapes.
Meanwhile, a “botched crackdown” on e-cigarettes in the US threw open the floodgates. In 2020, the FDA outlawed the use of sweet flavours in refillable “pod-based” vape products, badly hitting the US market leader, Juul Labs. But it exempted other device types, including disposables, ensuring a bonanza for Heaven Gifts. Zhang has since proved adept at manoeuvring his way round roadblocks – “spinning off his vapes into a dizzying number of brands”, says Businessweek. If one hits regulatory or legal problems, up pops another. No wonder Zhang is considered a “magician” in Shenzhen. He will need all his Houdini-like skills to escape a savvier US regulator and the backlash from Big Tobacco lobbyists.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
-
Investors should plan for an age of uncertainty and upheavalTectonic geopolitical and economic shifts are underway. Investors need to consider a range of tools when positioning portfolios to accommodate these changes
-
Investing in UK universities: spin research into profitsUK universities are a vital economic asset, but they are also Britain's 'equivalent of Gulf oil.' There are opportunities here for investors
-
Investing in UK universities: how to spin research into profits
UK universities are a vital economic asset, but they are also Britain's 'equivalent of Gulf oil.' There are opportunities here for investors
-
Lessons from Nobel Prize winners in economics on how to nurture a culture of growthThe Nobel Prize in economics went to three thinkers who show us why economies grow and how we can help them do so. Governments would be wise to heed the lessons
-
Yoshiaki Murakami: Japan’s original corporate raiderThe originator of Japanese activism, Yoshiaki Murakami, was disgraced by an insider-trading scandal in 2006. Now, he's back, shaking things up
-
Albert Einstein's first violin sells for £860,000 at auctionAlbert Einstein left his first violin behind as he escaped Nazi Germany. Last week, it became the most expensive instrument not owned by a concert violinist
-
Who is Rob Granieri, the mysterious billionaire leader of Jane Street?Profits at Jane Street have exploded, throwing billionaire Rob Granieri into the limelight. But it’s not just the firm’s success that is prompting scrutiny
-
David Ellison: America's new media mogulDavid Ellison is building a mighty new force in old and new media. Critics worry that he will prove to be a Trumpian patsy. Is that fair?
-
Alok Sama on AI and how to invest in the future of technologyInterview Alok Sama, the former president and chief financial officer of Masayoshi Son’s investment vehicle SoftBank Group International, explains AI’s potential
-
Pierre-Édouard Stérin wants to make France great againConservative billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin is seeking to lead a political and spiritual renaissance across the Channel. The planning looks meticulous
