Evergrande: The rise and fall of the property giant's billionaire founder - BBC News

Hui Ka Yan, the founder of a crisis-hit Chinese property giant, is under police surveillance.

16 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Hui Ka Yan is the founder of Chinese property giant EvergrandeBy Mariko OiBusiness reporterHui Ka Yan, the founder and chairman of Chinese property giant Evergrande, was once Asia's richest person.

The 64-year-old, who is also known as Xu Jiayin, rose from a humble upbringing to head a vast business empire. His fortune was estimated at $42.5bn (£34.8bn) when he topped the list of Asia's wealthiest people compiled by Forbes magazine in 2017.

Now he is being investigated over suspected "illegal crimes" as his company teeters under the weight of $300bn (£245.4bn) of debt.

Born into a poor rural family in 1958, his early childhood was shaped by the Great Leap Forward - Mao Zedong's campaign to rapidly industrialise a Chinese economy reliant on agriculture that triggered a famine that killed millions.

Mr Hui was raised by his grandmother in a village in central Henan province after his mother died of sepsis when he was just eight months old.

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