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Chinese Businessman Has Worst Day Ever, Loses $14 Billion In Half Hour

by Sean Levinson
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A Chinese billionaire lost nearly half his fortune in less than an hour.

Li Hejun was formerly known as the second-richest man in China, according to Forbes.

He amassed a personal value of over $30 billion as the chairman of Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd, a company that makes solar power equipment.

At one point, Hanergy attained a market capitalization of $40 billion.

But in the last 30 minutes of trading in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the company's shares fell by over 40 percent, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was forced to suspend trading.

As a result, the value of Hejun's controlling stake in the company dropped by $14 billion, TIME reports.

It isn't clear what caused the shares to drop so wildly, but the reason could possibly be Hejun's choice not to attend the company's annual shareholder meeting.

A company spokesperson reportedly claimed Li "had something to do" at the time.

Analysts were wary of Hanergy's finances due to the lack of transparency regarding sales and other business decisions.

Significant overvaluation was therefore suspected when the company's stock rose 500 percent in the past year.

The drop, however, came right after a fellow solar power company and longtime rival, Yingli, experienced a 37 percent decrease in shares on Tuesday.

Yingli previously expressed concern about debt and stated in its annual report there was "substantial doubt" it would be around for much longer.

Citations: This Chinese Businessman Just Lost 14 Billion in Half an Hour (TIME), Hanergy Plunge Erases 14 Billion Of Chairmans Fortune (Forbes)