The financial downfall of one of China’s richest men, the former chairman of Inter Milan. The downfall of Zhang Jindong. The former owner of Inter Milan and founder of Suning has, in fact, lost his entire personal fortune in the company’s massive restructuring programme worth 238.7 billion yuan (29.9 billion euros), having been forced to hand it over to settle the debts incurred.A long-foretold economic and financial collapse: Zhang, having led the group for thirty years and built a retail and services empire, has seen his personal fortune wiped out entirely as part of the group’s massive debt restructuring. As reported by various Chinese media outlets, the scale of the operation was confirmed by the Nanjing Intermediate People’s Court, which announced the completion of the reorganisation plan relating to Suning.com and 38 other affiliated companies, totalling 238.712 billion yuan (approximately 29.9 billion euros).As reported by Calcio e Finanza, the former tycoon, acting as guarantor, was required to put his entire personal assets up as security during the proceedings: property, financial assets, shareholdings and even collectables were sold off through judicial auctions or negotiated transfers, with the proceeds going entirely towards the repayment of debts.Zhang Jindong has thus become the first founder of a major Chinese private enterprise to see his personal wealth completely wiped out as a result of a restructuring. Not only were all his shareholdings in 38 group companies transferred, but also his indirect 4.15% stake in Suning.com and 1.64 billion shares in the same company, which had already been pledged and frozen: today, neither he nor his wife hold any freely disposable assets, with all assets having been transferred to a trust intended to satisfy creditors.Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingA crisis that began between 2016 and 2020, when Suning.com raised over 180 billion yuan aspart of its aggressive expansion, funding various operations – including the purchase of Inter Milan – through bank loans, bonds and alternative financing instruments, with Zhang personally guaranteeing a large portion of these transactions. The 2020 pandemic then proved to be the breaking point: the closure of physical stores caused revenues to plummet, whilst the debt refinancing system ground to a halt, with the result that in 2021 losses exceeded 40 billion yuan and overdue debts surpassed the 100 billion mark.The sale of some shares in 2021 was futile, serving merely to stem the crisis. The structure of the debt guarantees led to the liquidation of all assets: luxury villas between Nanjing and Shanghai, high-end apartments, financial instruments and even an art collection featuring works by Zhang Daqian and Fu Baoshi were sold at auction. According to sources close to the case, net of the necessary main residence, the remaining assets are effectively zero.