Tycoon's $1 Billion Bet Reaps a Swift 92% Gain
- Chinese Estates emerged from shadows as a major shareholder
- Short sellers have so far been burned as Evergrande soars
A visitor rides on an escalator at Victoria Peak as buildings stand in the distance in Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014. A week into Hong Kong demonstrations notable for their order and endurance, protesters came under an attack highlighting the fault lines of a city torn between commercial interests and a desire for greater democracy.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergBillionaire Joseph Lau’s Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd., which emerged from the shadows this month as a big buyer of China Evergrande Group shares, has made a gain of 92 percent on its billion-dollar wager on the company.
The firm controlled by Lau and his family last week declared that its interest passed 5 percent after share purchases since April, and its wager has reaped a paper gain of about $962 million as of Thursday, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Hong Kong exchange filings.