Hui Ka Yan
© AFP/China
By Carolina Quaresma
January 20, 2023 • 8:27 am
The chairman of Chinese real estate giant Evergrande has lost almost 93% of his net worth. Hui Ka Yan was once the second richest person in Asia, but his wealth has plummeted to around $3 billion from $42 billion in 2017.
According to CNN InternationalEvergrande is the most indebted real estate company in China, with $300 billion in liabilities, and has been at the center of the sector’s troubles in China since 2021.
Hui Ka Yan used his fortune to support the company by selling houses and private jets. However, this was not enough and Evergrande accumulated debt over the months. Last month, the company failed to present its preliminary debt restructuring plan.
With around 200,000 employees, Evergrande achieved sales of more than ten billion dollars (around nine billion euros) in 2020 and has more than 1,300 properties in more than 280 cities.
Experts have long feared that an Evergrande collapse could pose greater risks to China’s real estate market, damaging homeowners and the financial system. In China, real estate and related industries account for around 30% of GDP.
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Hui Ka Yan isn’t the only one who recently lost a large chunk of his fortune. Last month, Elon Musk, CEO of Telsla, SpaceX and Twitter, became the first person to lose $200 billion.