The maker of one out of every four gloves in the world said in September 2020 it expected “fresh highs” after profit surged 1,500%. By June 2021, as vaccines rolled out across the globe and more competitors entered the market, that guidance shifted to a gradual decline in selling prices. The company vowed six months later to press forward with an expansion, undeterred by its stock tumbling back to pre-Covid levels.
For a moment, Lim Wee Chai’s ascent looked unstoppable.
His Top Glove Corp. grew bigger than Malaysia’s banks, telecommunication firms and even the state-owned electricity company during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its stock price soared 450% through the first seven months of 2020, leaving high-flyers like Moderna Inc., Zoom Video Communications Inc., Peloton Interactive Inc. and Carvana Co. in the dust and making Lim a billionaire several times over.
