During Wanda Group’s troubled times in debt, Wang Sicong, the son of Wang Jianlin, recently sold his luxury villa in Shanghai at a loss of 20 million yuan (RMB), adding another footnote to the family crisis.
At the same time, Wang Jianlin himself briefly became involved in the controversy of a “high consumption restriction order,” and Wanda Group has sold 85 Wanda Plazas within a year. These actions highlight the plight of the former richest man in China as his assets significantly shrink under continued downward pressure in the real estate market.
On September 29, a Shanghai intermediary posted that Wang Sicong’s Shanghai Kaidemao Mingguan luxury villa had been sold for 61.5 million yuan, meaning Wang Sicong finally managed to get rid of the property. However, the selling price was far below the expected price.
This luxury villa, located in downtown Shanghai, was decorated extravagantly. Wang bought the bare-shell apartment in 2015 for 63 million yuan and spent another 20 million on renovations. Selling the house for 61.5 million resulted in a net loss of 20 million.
The villa was originally listed for around 100 million yuan, but with no takers. In January of this year, he reduced the price by 20 million to around 80 million yuan, yet it remained unsold. It was then further reduced to 63 million yuan. Finally, it was sold recently for 61.5 million yuan.
Financial commentator “Xiao Mi Kan Entertainment Circle” bluntly called this a “bloody loss,” reflecting the extremely sluggish real estate market and Wang Sicong’s urgency to cash out to alleviate financial difficulties.
In fact, Wang Sicong is also facing personal debt troubles recently. As the chairman of Shanghai Panda Interactive Entertainment Limited, he faced an enforcement order of 12.1 million yuan due to a contract dispute at the Shanghai Railway Transportation Court. Although Panda Interactive Entertainment went bankrupt in 2019, the debt issues have led Wang Sicong to be subjected to multiple restrictions on high consumption by the court six years ago. The latest enforcement case shows that his debt legacy issues are still simmering.
Almost on the same day as Wang Sicong selling his house, Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin experienced a debt-related turmoil. On September 28, the topic of “Wang Jianlin restricted from high consumption” surged in hot searches due to a ruling by the Beijing Financial Court, showing that Dalian Wanda Group and Wanda Real Estate were forced to pay 186 million yuan in a case. This was the first time Wang Jianlin faced a high consumption restriction.
However, the storm lasted only a day. On September 29, China’s online enforcement platform revoked the high consumption restriction information for Wanda Group and Wang Jianlin, changing it to a “historical restriction order.” During the eruption of the high consumption restriction issue, an insider at Wanda responded to Chinese media, stating that this restriction might be due to economic disputes within subordinate project companies or “information asymmetry at the enforcement level.”
Although the consumption restriction was swiftly lifted, financial new media “Wild Horse Finance” stated that the enforcement target of 186 million yuan still reflects Wanda’s significant debt and liquidity pressure.
The two events involving Wang Jianlin and his son are a microcosm of Wanda Group’s more than two years of financial chain crisis.
According to Tianyancha information, Wanda Group currently has information on 10 enforcees, totaling a staggering 5.263 billion yuan, with cases concentrated in 2025. The individual enforcement amounts are all above 100 million yuan, with the largest exceeding 2.4 billion yuan, involving creditors such as Bank of China and Shanghai Trust. In addition, Wanda also has information on 47 frozen equities, even involving core financial institutions like Wanda Network Finance and Wanda Microloans.
Facing escalating debt pressures, Wang Jianlin has shifted from an expansive “buy-buy-buy” approach to a firefighting “sell-sell-sell” mode, cashing out large-scale assets to survive:
– Divestment of film and overseas assets: Since 2023, Wanda has sold 51% equity of Wanda Films multiple times, losing control and generating about 6 billion yuan in returns. In 2024, they also sold shares of Legendary Entertainment in the U.S., British luxury yacht maker Sunseeker International, and Wanda’s hotel management company to Tongcheng Travel, bringing in returns.
– Contraction in financial sector: While Wanda’s plans to sell off equity in PICC Life Insurance have not materialized for years, after PICC Life’s capital increase in 2024, Wanda stepped back, signaling a pullback in financial investments.
– Realization of core assets: As of early 2025, Wang Jianlin has already sold 55 Wanda Plazas. Along with the 4 Wanda Plazas sold in 2023 and the 26 sold in 2024, Wang Jianlin’s ownership of 85 Wanda Plazas has changed hands.
This unprecedented large-scale asset reshuffling showcases the massive liquidity crisis faced by Wanda Group.
In the 2025 Fortune 500 Rich List released by New Fortune on June 24, Wang Jianlin and Wang Sicong ranked 51st with a net worth of 58.81 billion yuan. Compared to the previous year’s 140.84 billion yuan, their net worth has halved, and their ranking has plummeted from 9th place.