The richest woman in Asia has lost more than half her fortune after China’s real estate sector faced a cash crunch.
Yang Huiyan, 41, a vice chair person and a majority shareholder of Country Garden (Chinese property giant), saw her net worth loss by more than 52% from $23.7 billion to $11.3 billion in the last one year. This was revealed by Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Yang’s wealth experienced a major hit on July 27 when Country Garden’s Hong Kong-listed shares dropped 15 percent after the firm announced it would float new shares to raise capital.
Property sector contributes between 18 – 30 percent to China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This means that property is an important driver of economic growth in China.
The property crash commenced when Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive debt in the property sector in 2020. This brought challenges for major players such as Sunac and Evergrande. The companies were forced to enter into negotiations with creditors as they stared at bankruptcy.
Yang inherited her wealth from her father Yang Guoqiang who owned a billion dollar property company in China. He established a property development company – Country Garden in Guangdong back in 1992.
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He (Guoqiang) grew it into one of the largest property development companies in China.
He transferred his shares to the daughter in 2005 and she became the richest woman in Asia at the age of 26. She further added $16 billion to her wealth from an IPO.
Her net-worth was $20 billion by 2020. Now her position as the richest woman in Asia is threatened by the property crash.
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