HONG KONG - Mr Hui Ka Yan has already lost his freedom.

Now, the founder of China Evergrande Group is no longer a billionaire – in US dollar terms.

His net worth has fallen to US$979 million (S$1.34 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with shares of his debt-laden real estate company trading at just 24 Hong Kong cents each. Shares of China Evergrande have dropped 86 per cent since its trading resumption in late August.

While Mr Hui’s wealth may seem trivial in the context of a police investigation into alleged crimes by the property tycoon, the value of his assets is of keen interest to creditors seeking to limit losses from one of the biggest corporate collapses in Chinese history.

The slump is another illustration of how hard he has fallen after riding the nation’s real estate boom for more than a decade.

Mr Hui, once Asia’s second-richest man, has seen his wealth plummet 98 per cent since being worth US$42 billion at his peak in 2017, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.

He is now under police control, leaving his empire in limbo with no clear restructuring plan in sight.

A further test next week has the potential to almost wipe out his fortune.

Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, will face an Oct 30 court hearing in Hong Kong over a petition to liquidate the firm.

If a winding-up order is made, liquidators will be appointed to convert Evergrande’s assets into cash for the benefit of all creditors, according to Mr Jonathan Leitch, a partner at Hogan Lovells in Hong Kong.

“Potentially, creditors end up owning the business and shareholders get wiped out,” he said.

Still, if Mr Hui is kept on board to see through a restructuring, he may get to keep some equity as an incentive, the lawyer said.

In a further twist, Mr Hui’s wife, Ms Ding Yumei, was listed as a third-party independent in an August filing, hinting at a divorce and separation of assets.

She owns a 6 per cent stake in Evergrande, worth some US$24 million, through a British Virgin Islands vehicle wholly owned by her since the company’s listing in Hong Kong in 2009.

Previously, her stake was credited as Mr Hui’s spousal interest in Evergrande’s filings, while it now lists Ms Ding as a separated beneficial owner.

Through this stake, she should have collected more than US$500 million in cash dividends over the years. It is unknown how Mr Hui split assets with Ms Ding.

Mr Hui has been pledging assets after he was urged by the Chinese authorities to use his personal properties to pay debts.

One luxury mansion in Hong Kong linked to him is on the market for HK$880 million (S$154 million) after it fell into the receiver’s hands.

It failed to sell earlier in 2023 after bids fell short of the creditor’s target. BLOOMBERG