The chairman of Evergrande Group, Xu Jiayin, has emerged as the richest real estate magnate in the world, based on a list by Hurun Research. Asia Times reported that Xu Jiayin bested other global real estate businessmen by amassing a total net wort of US$37 billion through sales by the real estate group.
Last year, the group managed to sell off US$85 billion in homes, with a total of 52 million square meters collectively. The list also signified the firm as one of China's 'most valuable' among its private developers. Their properties in Hong Kong also placed it, along with six other cities, in the Hurun Global Real Estate Rich List of 2019.
The other real estate magnates that followed Xu in the list was Henderson Development's Lee Shau Kee, who was third on the list with a net worth of US$27 billion. Yang Huiyan of the Country Garden was fourth with US$23 billion. She was also notable for being the only woman included among the top 10 in the list.
China Daily added Li Ka-shing, Wang Jianlin and Henry Chen Kar-shun--along with their families, and Joseph Lau Luen Hung. These real estate magnates have managed to populate the list thanks to the prevailing 'urbanization' in China, which had driven a 'wealth explosion,' the likes of which had never been seen in China--or in the world.
However, with the prevailing trend in the economy, some of the top 10 billionaires also saw their net worth grow smaller in 2019. The lone exception is Tos Thirathivat and family, whose wealth managed to grow up to 73 percent year-on-year. The latest list from Hurun included a total of 139 real estate billionaires from China, which has a combined net worth of $550 billion.
Other countries in the list are the US with 26 billionaires and a collective net worth of $110 billion. The UK contributed with 17 billionaires and a combined net worth of $66 billion.
The most valuable companies on the list, by virtue of their owners' inclusion in the list, are Sun Hung Kai, Country Garden, and Evergrande. Their market values are $47.8 billion, $31.3 billion, and $43.9 billion, respectively.
Based on the list, the number of billionaires globally had risen up to 239. China led the world with their real estate billionaires, enough for a 58% rating in the list. The US and the UK come in at second and third with 11% and 7% of the billionaires included on the list.
