Who Is Yang Huiyan? Asia’s Richest Woman Loses Half Her Wealth

Yang Huiyan, the 41-year-old richest woman in Asia, had her wealth fall by more than half this year as China's real estate crisis worsened, from over $24 billion to $11 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Yang Huiyan is in charge of Country Garden Holdings, the biggest sales-based developer of real estate in China. According to CNN, as the nation's real estate market grappled with declining property prices, waning buyer demand, and a debt default problem that has enveloped some of its top developers since last year, Country Garden's shares lost more than half of their value this year.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Huiyan is still the wealthiest woman in Asia despite losing more than half of her money. However, the drop in her net worth has reduced the wealth disparity between her and other Chinese billionaires who are women, leaving Huiyan just $100 million short of being surpassed by Fan Hongwei in wealth, according to a CNN report.

Who Is Yang Huiyan?

- The businesswoman and property developer, Yang Huiyan is a billionaire, who was born in China.

- She earned her bachelor's degree in arts and sciences from Ohio State University in 2003, where she was a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS).

- Her father, Yang Guoqiang, founded the real estate business Country Garden in Foshan, Guangdong province, in 1992.

- She is Country Garden Holdings' largest stakeholder, with her father, Yang Guoqiang, transferring 70% of the company's shares before its initial public offering (IPO) in 2007.

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-  According to Forbes, Yang assisted in the $410 million capital raise in 2014 by serving as vice chairman of the board's governance committee.

- However, the housing problem has gotten worse in China recently as thousands of furious homeowners who put down payments on incomplete houses threatened to quit making mortgage payments if construction wasn't finished on schedule. This developing economic crisis is also affecting Country Garden.

- Hence, Country Garden's stock has lost more than half of its value this year.

- On July 27, she stated that the company will sell shares at a discount of over 13% from its Tuesday closing price in order to earn HK$2.83 billion ($361 million), noting that some of the profits will be used to pay down the company's offshore debt.