The Biography of Hui Ka Yan : Life, Career, Net Worth

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Hui Ka Yan

Hui Ka Yan is a 61-year-old Chinese billionaire whose name reads in Mandarin Chinese as " Xu Jiayin." He owns and sits as board chairman of the Evergrande group founded in 1996. In the company now regarded as China's second-largest real estate developer Hui and his spouse owns 74% of the Guangzhou based real estate enterprise which has over 810 projects in over 280 cities in China. He is a renowned businessman and philanthropist topping China's Forbes philanthropy list (2019) having donated over 4.07 billion yuan ($592 million). He ranks No.33 on the Forbes 2020 World's Billionaires list, with a net worth of $27.6B. His business strategy is “to scale back its towering debt pile” seem to have stalled. 

Hui was ranked as 60th most powerful person by Forbes in 2018, and well-known in China for his interests in football. Retrieved from a report by Randolph Marsh on wildeastfootball.net he reportedly bought a local football club and renamed it Guangzhou Evergrande after the company, and has invested millions into “the largest football school in the world” in hopes of fueling a home-grown Chinese super league – which has yielded no positive result.

Early life and Education

On October 9, 1958 Hui was born into a veteran's family in Jutaigang Village, Gaoxian Township, Taikang County, Henan province. In his eight-month, he lost his mother and was raised by his woodcutter father who could barely afford to send his son to school and a grandmother who sold homemade vinegar. By 1975 Hui was done with his high school education, he started work with a cement factory before he began working at home for two years.

 In 1978 at the end of Mao Zedong revolution, Hui became one of China's first college students at the then Wuhan Institute of Iron and Steel (now Wuhan University of Science and Technology), serving in his class as proxy in charge of Hygienic. In 1982 Hui Ka Yan graduated from the Institute and was assigned to a job at a state-owned steel company in his home province with work guarantee of a lifetime. In 2008, He earned an honorary Ph.D. from the University of West Alabama.

Career History

Having worked with a cement product company before, Hui was able to blend into his work at Wuyang Iron and Steel Company for 10 years after graduating college in 1982. By 1983 he was promoted from technician to associate director before becoming the director of the steel factory. Hui held this position for 7 years before he finally resigned in 1992 to join the 'Zhongda' trading company located in shenzhen (southeast china's special economic zone) where he rose to the rank of president at one of the company's branch office 'Quanda' within a year.

On October 1, 1994, Hui establish in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province," the Guangzhou Pengda Industrial Co., Ltd" before March 1997 when founded the Evergrande Group serving as its first chairman of board and remains till date.

Evergrande Group, the second-largest property developer group in China was founded in 1996 by Xu Jiayin. It was formerly known as Hengda Group, and is currently headed by Hui Xu Yan who is also the majority shareholder of the company (71.2%). It is “an investment holding company” which deals with the development, management, investment, and sales of real estate properties, especially to the middle and upper class. Through its subsidiary companies, the group’s businesses include, real estate, property construction, finance business, hotel business, health industry business, and internet business.

 The group raised an IPO of $722 million in 2009 on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and by 2010 bought the Guangzhou Evergrande football club as in investment strategy. The club won the 2013 AFC champions league and now has its own football coaching and tutoring school. Though the conglomerate is majorly known for real estate, it also has other subsidiary companies which deal with agricbusiness, baby formula, and solar panels

Personal life

Hui Ka Yan got married to a Chinese lady Yang Huiying, whom he met in Wuyang Iron and Steel Company. The couple holds the company's largest stake with all combine under Hui. The stake is reflected as $1 billion of Evergrande bonds, according to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing dated October 31, 2018. The couple has two children and lives together in Guangzhou. Hui's son Xu Zhijian is one of Evergrande's vice president having bagged a MBA from the prestigious Tsinghua University, China.

Hui serves as member of the 11th National Committee of Political Consultative Conference of Chinese People and as a leader with various bodies such as China Real Estate Association where he serves as vice president, China Entrepreneur Association and China Enterprise Association. Hui also serves as a management professor of Wuhan since 2003. Hui co-owns china's most impressive football team known as "China's most winning team" with Alibaba chairman 'Jack Ma' who holds a 50% stake on the club.

 Hui Ka Yan Net Worth 

$ 32 Billion as of 2019