Evergrande (Crisis)

Evergrande became the world's most indebted property developer with $300 billion in liabilities, triggering China's real estate crisis in 2021. The company pre-sold apartments to finance construction of previous projects in an endless chain. When regulators restricted borrowing, the pyramid collapsed. Like an organism that needs constant growth to survive, Evergrande's business model had no steady state—it could only expand or die.