Two rich Chinese women lose a combined US$25 billion
23 December, 2018
Two of the richest women in Hong Kong and China saw their wealth drop more than HK$200 billion (US$25.7 billion) after a tough run on the stock market in recent months.
Country Garden Co-chairman Yang Huiyan saw her paper wealth drop more than HK$12.38 billion after shares in country’s No. 1 property developer by sales dropped 57%.
The 37-year-old, who was promoted to co-chairman earlier this month after being an executive director for one year, owns 57% of Country Garden, which was capitalized at HK$200 billion.
Despite the share price dipping by more than half so far this year, Yang was still ranked as the 43rd richest person – and the fourth richest woman – in the world.
Country Garden decided to slow its construction of new projects in the summer after a series of incidents and it promised to put safety and quality first. It was also hurt by the weak property market where some developers, including Country Garden, slashed prices by 30%.
Another woman who fell from the rich list was Pollyanna Chu Lee Yuet-wah, co-founder of Kingston Financial Group.
Chu, who became rich by running VIP gaming parlors and margin financing businesses in Macau, was the richest woman on the Forbes Hong Kong 50 richest list earlier this year when her flagship company was valued at more than HK$100 billion.
But Kingston shares fell 75% after regulator the Securities and Futures Commission warned that the stock was too concentrated among a few people in January when the shares started to collapse.
In the process, Chu saw her paper wealth drop HK$77 billion in the process. Kingston is now worth HK$23.41 billion and Chu owns a 74.61% stake.
Despite the drop in wealth, Chu was able to complete the biggest purchase of her life with a 17% stake in the HK$40 billion purchase of The Centre, a 73-story office tower in Central on Hong Kong Island.