Wanda’s Billionaire Founder Fights to Save Empire After $40 Billion Wealth Destruction
- Wang is personally handling negotiation with banks, investors
- Wanda seeks to postpone repayment if mall IPO fails this year
Just last year, billionaire Wang Jianlin had appeared to cement his reputation as one of the few remaining Chinese property tycoons to sidestep a wave of debt defaults sweeping the industry.
The Dalian Wanda Group founder was confident enough in his financial position to offer help to a fellow Chinese mogul who wanted to sell a portfolio of shopping malls for 700 million yuan ($98 million), according to people familiar with the matter. Wang, 68, planned to fold the malls into his commercial management unit in preparation for an initial public offering, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private information.