London home lists for $227M after owner’s fortune plunges

The most expensive home ever sold in London can now be yours — if you’re deep-pocketed enough to afford it. 

And it’s re-listed for a cool $227 million after the current owner’s net worth took a nosedive.

The Hyde Park-overlooking 2-8 Rutland Gate mansion measures more than 62,000 square feet spread over a grand 45 rooms and five stories.

In 2020, the estate of its former owner, Saudi Arabian crown prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, sold this property for a record-breaking $232 million in a secretive deal.

Now, only two years later, the single-family home is back on the market for some $5 million less, and its current owner — previously believed to be the Chinese billionaire Cheung Chung-Kiu — has been revealed as the founder and chair of troubled Chinese property group Evergrande, Hui Ka Yan, the Financial Times reported. 

According to multiple insiders, Cheung assumed the public face of the purchase, but really it was his fellow tycoon and business partner, Hui, who was behind the deal. Hui is now putting the gargantuan abode back on the market after seeing his personal fortunes take an enormous tumble, his net worth having shrunk 83% since July 2020, Insider reported based on the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index. The fall from financial grace followed Evergrande defaulting on a $300 billion debt. 

Hui is worth $6 billion and has reportedly been forced to sell off shares in the company and some of his other possessions — such as art — in order to pay off the debt when the Chinese government declined to bail the company out. In 2020, Hui’s worth was reported to be $31 billion.

To find a new owner at the current price point, Hui will have to successfully appeal to a small market of the uber-wealthy. He is additionally hindered by the fact that the home is currently in the middle of being refurbished, with planning permission obtained for work on its interior and exterior. 

“It’s very hard to put a price tag on it: It’s like an artwork or a diamond. If someone really wants it, they will pay,” one person involved in the 2020 sale told the Financial Times of the home. 

Others believe that, with Hui selling, the price is likely to come down significantly.

“There are only so many buyers in the market, and everyone [in those circles] knows Evergrande is behind it,” one Hong Kong property executive and listing insider told the publication.