Revealed: The eye-watering wealth of the founders behind Wish

Peter Szulczewski is one of the two founders behind the business. Photo/LinkedIn.

E-commerce site Wish has become a ubiquitous entity on the internet, following Kiwis across Facebook and the wider internet with cheap deals.

Whether its a $4 watch, a $22 pair of sneakers or a $15 leather jacket, Wish is your go-to site.

Such deals have propelled e-commerce site Wish up the ranks of the most valuable US unicorns and made its co-founders Silicon Valley's latest paper billionaires. Peter Szulczewski and Danny Zhang each own about a US$1.3 billion (NZ1.98 billion) stake on paper, according to an analysis by EquityZen, a marketplace for shares in pre-IPO technology companies.

The popularity of its inexpensive products has given Wish a hefty price tag. The startup raised around $250 million at an $8.5 billion valuation in September, according to news site Axios.

Wish is a mobile app that allows consumers to buy discounted goods directly from Chinese merchants or suppliers. The San Francisco-based company now has more than 500 million users worldwide, according to its website.

The duo are the latest unicorn breeders to emerge with 10-figure fortunes (on paper, at least) from America's startup scene. Their combined $2.6 billion ranks among the most valuable stakes held by startup founders, according to calculations by EquityZen and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Wish didn't respond to requests for comment.

The company has also courted controversy for selling drug paraphernalia, including pipes used for methamphetamine and crack cocaine.

This has, however, done little to slow down the company's upward trajectory.