--- description: The collapse appeared to be triggered by Li's failure to attend the company's annual shareholder meeting title: This Chinese Businessman Just Lost $14 Billion in Half an Hour image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9eb1d85ae84a606/698850e5524fc060aedf2ba1/455323821.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [energy](/tag/energy/) ## energy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Chinese Businessman Just Lost $14 Billion in Half an Hour ## Video: Is This Solar's Moment? [Watch (HLS stream): Is This Solar's Moment?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YNLpJVsJ.m3u8) (1:54)  _Published 2014-08-21. Could a surplus of solar panels finally drive down the price to make it affordable for more Americans?_ by [Fortune / Geoffrey Smith](/author/fortune-geoffrey-smith/) ## Fortune / Geoffrey Smith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 20, 2015 1:23 PM CUT  Li Hejun, Chairman of Hanergy Holding Group, attends the 2013 China Central Television (CCTV) Financial Forum at China World Trade Center Tower III on December 11, 2013 in Beijing, China. The three-day forum opened on Tuesday ahead of the "2013 CCTV China Economic Person Of The Year Award". (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images) Li Hejun, Chairman of Hanergy Holding Group, attends the 2013 China Central Television (CCTV) Financial Forum at China World Trade Center Tower III on December 11, 2013 in Beijing, China. The three-day forum opened on Tuesday ahead of the "2013 CCTV China Economic Person Of The Year Award". (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)ChinaFotoPress—ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images by [Fortune / Geoffrey Smith](/author/fortune-geoffrey-smith/) ## Fortune / Geoffrey Smith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 20, 2015 1:23 PM CUT You might think you’re having a bad day, but Li Hejun will tell you it could be a heckuva lot worse. The chairman of Hong Kong-listed Hanergy Thin Film Power, a maker of equipment for the solar power industry, just saw $14 billion wiped off the value of his controlling stake in the company in a so-far unexplained end-of-day crash. Li had become one of China’s richest men on paper after shares in his company nearly tripled in the first four months of the year, giving it a market capitalization of $40 billion at one stage. For comparison, the U.S.’s largest solar company, First Solar Inc. \[fortune-stock symbol=”FSLR”\], is worth $5.6 billion. But the company’s shares fell over 42% in the last half-hour of trading in Hong Kong Wednesday, before being suspended by the local market regulator. The boom in Hanergy’s shares has raised eyebrows. Transparency about the company’s business practices is limited by the fact that most of its sales go to a single company–its parent, the privately-held Hanergy Group. That has fostered suspicions–denied by the company–that it may be overstating its financial strength. The collapse appeared to be triggered by Li’s failure to attend the company’s annual shareholder meeting. In one of the more memorable corporate quotes of recent times, [The Financial Times](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c75565be-feac-11e4-94c8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3aTSvFKkS "undefined") reported a company spokesman as saying that Li “had something to do” instead. Sentiment towards China’s solar companies had been battered on Tuesday after one of Hanergy’s biggest rivals, New York-listed Yingli Green Energy Holding \[fortune-stock symbol=”YGE”\] said in its annual report that there was “substantial doubt” as to its ability to continue as a going concern, driving its shares down 37%. The company put out a statement Wednesday saying that the media had blown its comments out of proportion. ### See the World's Largest Solar Plants From Above  Desert Sunlight Solar Farm produces 550 megawatts of energy, equal to the output of a conventional power plant, near Palm Springs, Calif., where 8 million photovoltaic (PV) panels convert sunlight into electricity. Jamey Stillings for TIME  Desert Sunlight Solar Farm where 8 million solar panels power 160,000 California homes, in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings for TIME  The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, a 110-megawatt solar thermal power project, near Tonopah, Nev. Jamey Stillings  The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, near Tonopah, Nev. Jamey Stillings  The Crescent Dunes Solar Plant, near Tonopah, Nev. Jamey Stillings  The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, near Tonopah, Nev. Jamey Stillings  Mirrored heliostats dot the landscape at the Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  Construction of Ivanpah Solar Field One in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  Heliostat installation at the Ivanpah thermal solar plant in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  Mirrored heliostats at the Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave Desert in California. Jamey Stillings  Mirrored heliostats that reflect and concentrate desert sunshine surround a tower at the Ivanpah solar power station in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  350, 000 mirrored heliostats reflect light onto boilers generating 392 megawatts of energy at the Ivanpah solar power station in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  The Ivanpah solar power station in the Mojave Desert, California. 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