This Man Lost $15 Billion In Just 30 Minutes

Markets can be real cruel. This man lost $15 billion in just 30 minutes. When he woke up in the morning, he was one of the richest Chinese man. But when Hong Kong stock market opened and trading started, he had lost $15 billion in just 30 minutes.

In the history of sudden wealth loss, Li Hejun may have set a new record.

Li, who was China’s richest man until this week, saw his fortune drop by as much as $15 billion in a half-hour as the stock in his company, Hanergy Thin Film Power Group, fell by nearly half. Trading in the shares was halted Wednesday and Li didn’t attend the company’s annual meeting.

While plenty of billionaires have seen their fortunes cut in half over time, few if any have seen $15 billion wiped out in a half-hour. Li’s total fortune was around $30 billion before the stock plunged.

Hanergy Group

This seems to be a new world record in losing wealth in a short time. Last year Warren Buffet had lost $2 Billion in 2 days when share prices of Coke and IBM 2 of his major holdings plunged.

Chinese investors are demanding more oversight by the regulatory authorities.

After $35 billion in market value was erased from three Hong Kong-listed companies over two days, investors are asking if the city’s regulator should have done more to prevent the sudden selloff.

Li Hejun is now a former richest man of China. He was worth $30 Billion before the stock crash. Last year Hanergy shares had surged 625% making Li Hejun the richest man of China. In just 24 minutes yesterday, Hanergy shares lost a whopping 47% wiping out $18.6 Billion of the Hanergy company market value in just a few minutes. Li Hejun owned 80% of the company shares. So his loss came out to $15 Billion in just 24 minutes. Just a few days back, Li Hejun was the richest man of China overtaking Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma in April of this year.