Why a Chinese billionaire is selling the most expensive home in the UK: Evergrande founder Hui Ka-yan’s net worth dropped by 83 per cent – now he’s giving up his US$227 million London mansion

Oct 12 , 2022

Evergrande Real Estate Group chairman, Hui Ka-yan’s net worth fell by 83 per cent within two years. Photos: Xinhua, Getty Images

Hui Ka-yan – now worth just a modest US$6 billion – has fire-sold assets from shares to pieces from his art collection to help pay off company debts, after losing money since July 2020

Middle Eastern royals and rich American investors are among potential buyers of his Hyde Park property, which is on the market for US$227 million

A US$227 million mansion in London has been put up for sale just two years after it was last sold. The Financial Times reported that it is owned by Chinese billionaire Hui Ka-yan, founder of the floundering Chinese real estate empire Evergrande.

Hui has seen his net worth shrink by 83 per cent since July 2020, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index, as shares in Evergrande disintegrated amid a US$300 billion loan default at the company.

The tycoon, whose most recent worth stands at US$6 billion, has been forced to sell off shares in the company as well as his own possessions, including art and calligraphy, to pay company debts when the Chinese government declined to bail Evergrande out.

2-8a Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge is a mega-mansion potentially worth up to £500 million (US$550 million) if remodelled and extended. Photo: Wetherell

The 45-room mega-mansion overlooking Hyde Park has gone on the market again after it was reported to have been sold to Hong Kong-based Chinese billionaire Cheung Chung-kiu for more than US$227 million in 2020.

Chinese billionaire businessman and chairman of Evergrande Group Xu Jia-yin, or Hui Ka-yan in Cantonese, attends the opening ceremony of the new home court of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao of Chinese Football League, in April 2020. Photo: Imaginechina via AFP

But the FT has cited five people familiar with the matter who said that the 2-8a Rutland Gate property – London’s most expensive home – is actually owned by Evergrande founder Hui.

Hui and Cheung are close business partners, the paper reported, with Cheung’s company CC Land selling projects to Evergrande in China.

A general view of 2-8a Rutland Gate, in September 2012, in London, England – the property was the former residence of Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Photo: Getty Images

The FT also cited Land Registry documents showing a British Virgin Islands company called Vision Perfect Global Ltd bought the property from Curaçao-registered Yunak Property Corp in 2020.