The 10 richest real estate billionaires in the world

Xu Jiayin, chairman and founder of China Evergrande Group, is the richest real estate billionaire in the world with an estimated net worth of US$33 billion, according to the Hurun Global Real Estate Rich List 2020 report, a ranking of the real estate billionaires in the world, whose main business is in real estate.

“Overall it has been a good year for world’s biggest real estate entrepreneurs. The slowdown in the Chinese economy last year did not seem to have had much of an impact on China’s largest developers. The coronavirus outbreak, however, forced several of the leading Chinese developers to start selling homes online, with Evergrande leading the way,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report.

”167 saw their wealth rise, of which 39 were new faces.  50 were down and there 24 drop-offs.  39 had the same wealth as last year. 80% are self-made.  Of the 20% that inherited fortunes, two thirds have since gone on to grow it eg Donald Trump,” said in the report which released by The Hurun Research Institute, a research platform based in Shanghai and Mumbai.

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By country, China topped the list with 139 billionaires (55%), followed by USA with 34 billionaires (13%) and UK with 17 billionaires (7%). By wealth, China dominated with 60% of total wealth generated. By city, Hong Kong led with 26 billionaires. New York was the only non-China city to make the  Top 5.

Top richest real estate billionaires in the world

Source: Hurun Global Real Estate Rich List 2020

• Xu Jiayin, 62, of Shenzhen-based Evergrande, topped the list with US$33bn. Evergrande last year sold US$86bn of homes, totalling 58 million square meters.
• Li Ka-shing, 92, was in second with US$28bn. Cheung Kong’s market value is US$21, and in the first half of last year, completed a cumulative sales of US$5bn and profits of US$2bn.
• HK-based Lee Shau Kee, 92, of Henderson Development tied for 3rd place with US$27bn. In the first half of last year, Henderson Land completed sales US$1.1bn.
• Foshan-based Yang Huiyan & family, 39, tied for 3rd place with US$27bn. Yang is the only woman in the Top 10, inheriting her wealth from her father Yang Guoqiang, who is still chairman of the company. Country Garden’s sales last year increased to US$100bn, making it the largest developer by sales in the world.
• Donald Bren, 87, of Irvine Company, is the richest Non-Chinese real estate billionaire with US$17bn. Bren grew the Irvine Company into a multi-billion-dollar real estate empire and become an owner of a 93,000-acre ranch. Irvine Company owns and operates a collection of residential, office and retail properties throughout California.
• Hugh Grosvenor, 29, of Grosvenor, is the youngest real estate billionaire in the world with a wealth of US$17bn. The Grosvenor group spans 300 acres of Mayfair and Belgravia in central London, Eaton Hall in Cheshire and investments in 60 cities throughout the world.
• Henry Cheng Kar-shun & family, 71, of HK-based real estate developer New World, tied for 5th with US$17bn. New World’s revenue in the second half of last year was US$4.3bn, generating profits of US$500mn.
• Joseph Lau Luen Hung & family, 69, of HK-based Chinese Estates, tied for 5th with US$17bn. The core business of Chinese Estate includes investment property leasing and property development & sales.
• Beijing-based Wang Jianlin & family, 66, tied for 5th with US$17bn. Wanda Commercial’s operating income in 2019 hit US$5.7bn, led by the openings of 43 of their flagship Wanda Plaza. Last year, Wanda joined forces with Tencent to create a digital shopping mall.
• Shenzhen-based Yao Zhenhua, 50, broke into the Top 10 with US$16bn. Baoneng focuses on three major product lines of science & technology parks, urban complexes and international business districts. They have developed a series of high-quality projects in key cities across the country.

The 10 largest real estate companies in the world

By market cap, Sun Hung Kai led the way with US$41bn valuation.  By revenues Evergrande and Country Garden led with US$67bn and US$54bn.

Source: Hurun Research 2020