For three decades, a man pursued banks, only to find in the end he was chasing a dream.
In June 2026, Shi Yuzhu's shareholding platform "Heboshi" quietly transferred a 0.86% stake in MYbank for 182 million yuan. This marks another key point in the contraction of his financial empire—from Hua Xia Bank to Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank, then to MYbank, the businessman who once boldly declared "banks are the safest investment" is gradually withdrawing from the banking chessboard he has managed for thirty years. The final straw that may break this game could lie in the 277 million yuan worth of shares in Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank that have been frozen for three years.
The Beginning of the Banking Story
The story of Shi Yuzhu and banks begins in 1994.
That year, the preparatory group for Minsheng Bank was established, with Shi Yuzhu being one of the eight main founders. After his friend Lu Zhiqiang proposed the idea of starting a bank, Shi Yuzhu immediately contributed 250,000 yuan as activity funds. But fate intervened. In 1996, the funding chain for the Giant Mansion project broke, forcing Shi Yuzhu to give up his qualification to invest in Minsheng Bank at the last moment. His friend Feng Lun took over the baton, selling properties at the Wantong Mansion in Fuchengmen to secure an entry ticket—and leaving a "slot" for Shi Yuzhu to re-enter Minsheng Bank in the future.
The dream of building a skyscraper was shattered, and so was the banking dream. But this was only the prelude.
A Covert Move into Beibu Gulf
After the 2008 global financial crisis, Shi Yuzhu sold off a large number of shares in Minsheng Bank and Hua Xia Bank. On the other side of this divestment, he quietly extended his hand to a city commercial bank in the southwestern border region—the newly restructured Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank.
The process of acquiring shares was never publicly disclosed. The result, however, was clear: with major institutions like China Development Bank and China Life Insurance notably absent, Shi Yuzhu's Giant Investment and Lu Zhiqiang's Oceanwide Construction became the only two external shareholders. By 2011, Giant Investment held a 9% stake in Beibu Gulf Bank, making it the third-largest shareholder.
In the following years, Shi Yuzhu continuously increased his holdings, once rising to become the largest shareholder.
A businessman who started in Zhuhai and made a comeback with Brain Platinum had actually turned a provincial city commercial bank into a new vessel for his banking dream. This persistence was indeed profound.
Divestment, Pledging, Freezing: A Protracted Exit
But the good times did not last long.
Starting in 2022, Shi Yuzhu's financial empire began to contract continuously: his Jianke Life exited the top ten shareholders of Hua Xia Bank; at Beibu Gulf Bank, Giant Investment's shareholding ratio dropped from a peak of over 9% to approximately 5.64%, falling from the largest shareholder to the second-largest. More notably, the proportion of pledged shares continued to climb.
On June 25, 2025, an enforcement ruling caused a sharp turn of events: approximately 277 million yuan worth of shares in Beibu Gulf Bank held by Giant Investment were frozen for a period of three years, until June 24, 2028, by the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court. This was already the fourth equity freeze for Giant Investment within four years—behind it lay the debt holes left by Shi Yuzhu's years of guaranteeing for friends, from joint guarantees for Oceanwide's Lu Zhiqiang to related debts of other old friends, with cumulative enforcement targets exceeding 1.36 billion yuan.
By mid-2025, the total value of shares frozen under Shi Yuzhu's name exceeded 3.9 billion yuan. In June 2026, his shareholding platform Heboshi transferred another 0.86% stake in MYbank (valued at 182 million yuan). The thirty-year banking dream is accelerating towards its conclusion.
The Bank Marches On
In contrast to Shi Yuzhu's personal predicament, Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank continues to advance steadily and has been quite active in recent years.
According to its 2025 annual report, the bank's total assets reached 552.581 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.19%; it achieved a net profit attributable to the parent company of 3.273 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.17%; its non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.43%, unchanged from the beginning of the year; its provision coverage ratio was 193.60%, indicating overall stable risk absorption capacity. Following the appointment of the new Chairman Li Dongguo, the work on its A-share IPO has also been steadily progressing.
However, for this provincial city commercial bank sprinting towards an IPO, the shares of its second-largest shareholder have been frozen for three years. Whether they will be auctioned or settled through negotiation remains undecided.
Fourteen years. From the third-largest shareholder to the largest, and then to frozen shares—this chapter of history between Shi Yuzhu and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank is longer and quieter than the collapse of his Giant Mansion.
Business is like a game of chess, where once a move is made, there is no regret. But some games, the longer they are played, the harder they are to conclude.
Compared to some shareholders of other city commercial banks, Shi Yuzhu is still somewhat better off, at least he did not hollow out the bank.
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