It’s been a rough year for Hui Ka Yan, the founder of downfallen Chinese real estate giant Evergrande—and to top it all off, the property tycoon just lost his billionaire status.
Hui, who founded Evergrande in 1996, was detained by Chinese police last month on “suspicion of illegal crimes” related to the debt-laden company’s financial woes.
The firm’s December 2021 default triggered a yearslong real estate crisis in China, prompting concerns among international investors about the stability of the world’s second largest economy. Evergrande—now the world’s most indebted real estate developer—finally filed for bankruptcy over the summer.
With the firm contending with more than $300 billion in debt, authorities stepped in last year to suspend trading of its Hong Kong–listed shares for 17 months, with the stock resuming trade in August before being temporarily suspended again last month.
Over the past three years, Evergrande shares have shed around 99% of their value, shaving billions of dollars off the company’s valuation. Today, the stock is trading for pennies, having plummeted 86% since trade restarted two months ago.
Founder Hui was once Asia’s second-richest person, having built up a personal fortune of $42 billion by 2017.
However, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, which tracks the real-time wealth of the world’s wealthiest people, Hui’s net worth has now tumbled to $979 million.
That means he has lost 98% of his wealth over the past six years.
A spokesperson for Hui and Evergrande did not respond to Coins2Day’s request for comment.
However, the decline in Hui’s net worth will be of interest to Evergrande’s creditors.
Since the Chinese government insisted that Hui use his own wealth to pay off some of Evergrande’s debts, the firm’s embattled founder and chairman has been selling off assets including a $227 million London mansion and a $112 million villa in Hong Kong.