Billions wiped away: China’s property king loses 93 per cent of his fortune

Still, Hui — a Communist Party member for more than three decades — is the most high-profile developer to feel the squeeze. His valuation on Bloomberg’s wealth list has tumbled with the latest drop a reflection of money Evergrande said its founder injected into the developer and demands from creditors. One group has demanded he put in at least $US2 billion of his personal wealth.

Evergrande first defaulted on dollar bonds in 2021 and has more than $US16 billion of outstanding dollar notes. After missing several self-imposed deadlines to deliver a preliminary restructuring blueprint, it proposed a restructuring plan this week with two options, people familiar with the matter said. Its shares have been suspended for almost a year after the company failed to report 2021 results, and PwC resigned as its auditor on Monday.

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Shimao, also a defaulter, has had its stock suspended since last March. R&F’s Zhang was arrested in London last month on US bribery charges and is currently confined to his five-bedroom penthouse apartment after posting a record $US16 million bail. Powerlong, another casualty of the crisis, has lost more than 80% of its value from a 2021 peak.

President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” drive to redistribute wealth has led to crackdowns in several industries. For the real estate sector, the imposition of a strict “three red lines” policy to curb debt has exacerbated a crisis that’s affecting banks, trust firms and millions of homeowners.

China’s five richest property tycoons lost about $US65 billion combined in the past two years, Bloomberg’s wealth index shows.

Bloomberg

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