China’s property crisis deepens after Evergrande founder sentenced to life in prison

The man who once sat atop a $45 billion fortune is now heading to prison for the rest of his life. Hui Ka Yan, the founder of China Evergrande Group, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on August 20, closing one of the most dramatic chapters in modern corporate history. The court also ordered the confiscation of all of Hui’s personal property, stripped him of political rights for life, and levied fines of 8.82 billion yuan (roughly $1.3 billion) against Evergrande Group. Its subsidiary, Hengda Real Estate, was hit with an additional 7 billion yuan in penalties. The fall of a real estate empire Hui’s descent from Asia’s wealthiest individual to convicted felon took less than a decade. In 2017, his net worth was estimated at $45 billion. By 2021, his company had defaulted on approximately $300 billion in liabilities, triggering a cascade that reshaped China’s entire property sector. The charges against Hui spanned financial fraud, illegal fundraising, and bribery, covering a period from 2016 to 2021. He pleaded guilty to eight separate charges in April 2026, setting the stage for the sentencing that followed four months later. The court foun...