Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), owns stocks valued between $1 to $5 million in a company that controls Shein, a controversial ecommerce and fashion giant founded in China, according to lobbying and corporate records from three countries reviewed by WIRED. They show that Patel began consulting for Shein one month before the company also retained the services of a lobbying firm where Pam Bondi, Trump’s newly confirmed US attorney general, worked at the time.
In a legally required financial disclosure, Patel told members of the US Senate—who are expected to vote on whether to confirm him next week—that he does not plan to divest his stake in Shein if he becomes the leader of the FBI. He was allotted shares in the fast-fashion company, which is reportedly valued to be worth $50 billion, in the form of what are called “restricted stock units” (RSUs).
RSUs are often given to company employees, who typically cannot cash them out until a certain amount of time has passed or other conditions are met. Patel disclosed that his Shein RSUs began vesting on February 1 and are expected to be paid out quarterly.
Legally, an official like the head of the FBI would not need to divest or recuse until a clear conflict of interest emerges, says Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications at the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “However, the optics of the situation are not great,” he says. “So we would recommend divestiture or recusal from any matter involving Shein upon taking office.”
An official working for Trump’s transition team said that Patel has gone “above and beyond” in answering questions from lawmakers. “The Senate has evaluated all potential conflicts and concerns,” Arjun Mody said in an email to WIRED. Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his financial disclosure, Patel said he began working as a consultant for an entity in the Cayman Islands called Elite Depot Ltd in April 2024, which he described as a “Fashion Management Company.” A WIRED review of corporate registration filings, lobbying disclosures, and other public records from the US, UK, and Cayman Islands shows that Elite Depot functions as a parent company for Shein.
Shein, which is known for selling low-priced clothing made in China, was under intense scrutiny in Washington over its alleged unethical business practices when Patel began consulting for the company. Amid the controversy, Shein was struggling to obtain approval from financial regulators to go public in New York. In February that year, then-senator Marco Rubio of Florida, now Trump’s Secretary of State, urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission to halt Shein’s planned IPO.
In a financial audit Shein submitted to regulators in the UK—where it is currently trying to IPO after its attempts at a US listing were stalled—the company said its “ultimate controlling party is Elite Depot Limited, a company registered in the Cayman Islands.” Public filings submitted to congress by three different political lobbying firms working on Shein’s behalf in Washington similarly describe Elite Depot as having a 100 percent ownership stake in the fast-fashion giant.