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For years, China’s property boom helped drive the country’s extraordinary economic growth. At the centre of it was Evergrande, which grew from a regional developer into a sprawling corporate empire, and one of the world’s most indebted companies.

Then the debts caught up with it. Evergrande’s collapse exposed the vulnerabilities of China’s property model, helping push the wider housing market into crisis and weighing on the country’s economy.

Now its founder, Hui Ka-yan, has been sentenced to life in prison for crimes including bribery and illegal use of funds.

Will Bain and Rahul Tandon are joined by Jennifer Pak in Beijing to explore how Evergrande became so big, what went wrong, how its collapse exposed the problems in China’s property model, and what it means for the wider global economy.

(Photo: China Evergrande Group then-Chairman, Hui Ka Yan, attends a news conference on the property developer’s annual results in Hong Kong, China 28 March, 2017. He has short black hair with a side parting and wears a white shirt with a red patterned tie and a black suit jacket. In the background is a city skyline of skyscrapers, reflected in blue water. Credit: Bobby Yip/Reuters)

You can email the team: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Will Bain, Rahul Tandon and Jennifer Pak
Producer: David Cann

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From growing up poor and fatherless in a tough Italian neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, likened to that of the film “Goodfellas,” to building a Burger King franchise empire in the mountainous West of Utah, John Gullo’s story is a quintessential example of the classic rags-to-riches tale.

Yet for this entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist, the “riches” never equated to the money he made. Gullo innately knew early in life that it was about giving back.

“It’s more important to be happy than it is to make money. And that’s a belief of mine. And when you ask me about my business, I never got into it to make money,” he told Fox News Digital.

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Now 82, Gullo, who during his career opened a total of 54 franchises in Utah, Arizona and Wisconsin — including the first-ever Burger King attached to a gas station, in Hurricane, Utah — is sharing his life’s journey.

John Gullo tells his rags-to-riches tale in his new memoir “Extraordinary Adventures of an Ordinary Man.” (John Gullo / Unknown)

From his first stint as a night manager at the fast-food chain to establishing the nonprofit American Dream Foundation with seed money from his business success and becoming the designated “Father of Professional Pickleball,” it’s all in his memoir, “Extraordinary Adventures of an Ordinary Man.” 

Gullo refers to the title as “the caption for my life.” He wrote the book, which can be found on Amazon, with the help of author Bridget Cook-Burch.

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The reason he decided to sell his restaurants, he said, was because he wasn’t working with the kids anymore.

“I wasn’t actively involved in the day-to-day operation, and I missed that,” he said.

“Everything I do with kids is a life lesson, so when I wrote the book, I did life lessons after each chapter with the hope that kids are going to read this thing and people are going to see it, and they’re going to learn from it,” Gullo added, noting his belief that, for some reason, he has been spiritually inspired all of his life.

“Giving is just very important to me — it’s very rewarding to me,” he said, noting that the philanthropy piece of his life has always been there. “…Maybe it’s because when you have nothing, you appreciate everything so much more.”

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As documented in the recent Deseret News article “How Utah’s Burger King king became the king of giving back,” Gullo has, for the last quarter-century, focused strictly on helping people and organizations that help people. In essence, his projects have served children, teens, families, classrooms, firefighters and those with disabilities.

Basketball pro Karl Malone with John Gullo at the opening of a new Burger King. (John Gullo)

His philanthropic efforts have gone to dozens of charitable endeavors and organizations, including Prevent Child Abuse and the Children’s Justice Center. He’s been behind the Ogden, Utah-based Enable Industries, which serves people with disabilities, as well as the American Fallen Fire Memorial, Youth in Transition, the Ogden Police Department’s Let’s Play Program, and the Treehouse Children’s Museum.

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The latter includes the American Freedom Trail, which every fifth-grader in Weber County can take a field trip to. It’s just one piece of what Gullo’s American Dream Foundation has funded since 2002, with more than $2 million going toward charitable causes.

Gullo is all about emphasizing the freedom to have your own opinions and the opportunities this nation has afforded him, which he’s expressed in patriotic videos featured on his foundation’s website.

“I think it’s important that the kids know the price that was paid to give them the right to burn the flag. The patriotism that existed at that time, the love of country at that time, it’s disappearing,” he explained. “We’re so segmented right now, and I do everything I can to offset that.”

Gullo himself said he has a lot of friends on both sides of the political aisle, but regardless of their beliefs, they’re able to remain friends.

“We disagree, that’s OK,” he said.

He specifically noted his friendship with former NBA player Thurl Bailey, who now does color commentary for the Utah Jazz and wrote the foreword for Gullo’s book. The two have collaborated for 20 years on charitable events.

“What this country needs more of is to have a relationship like ours,” Gullo said, noting that the two are totally different but are “brothers from another mother” and are united in how they care about people.

“We care about things and we work together. And there’s just not enough of that in the United States anymore,” Gullo said, noting his pursuit to bring organizations and people together.

Burger King plans to expand Patty to 500 U.S. stores this year, with a nationwide rollout targeted by year’s end. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Bailey called meeting Gullo at a charity event where Gullo purchased an auction item that involved Bailey giving a keynote speech at an Ogden youth program for underprivileged kids “fortuitous.”

“That’s when I really started to find out what a charitable man he was — a man successful in business in his own right, but you would never know it because he’s just so giving,” Bailey told Fox News Digital.

Later, during some country music concerts in Ogden sponsored by Gullo, the two would realize they had parallel lives growing up.

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“We clicked on a lot of levels when it came to our backgrounds, even though mine turned into sports and his into business and philanthropy. We both connected on the giving side,” he said.

So where does pickleball come into Gullo’s story?

John Gullo has been dubbed the “Father of Professional Pickleball.” (John Gullo)

He has credited the sport with saving his life after heart failure and first discovered the game while recovering from quintuple bypass heart surgery in 2008.

It helped him lose 100 pounds and inspired him to get courts built throughout Northern Utah — hundreds of them, in fact. He went on to found the Professional Pickleball Federation and the Tournament of Champions, a national event with prize money donated from his own pocket.

All of that has led to his induction into the Pickleball Hall of Fame in 2024 for his contributions to the growth of the sport, which has skyrocketed in popularity. He’s officially been dubbed the “Father of Professional Pickleball.”

“This is the most social game ever invented. You just got to show up. You don’t have to get three guys to play golf or tennis or anything like that,” Gullo said. “…What other sport do you know where a guy like me can partner with a 24-year-old kid in a tournament and be part of it? That’s what makes this sport so great.”

A proud father of two sons, Gullo continually emphasizes the difference between positive mistakes and negative ones to the younger set.

John Gullo with his two sons. (John Gullo)

“A positive mistake is when you’re trying to do something and you make a mistake. I can live with that. A negative mistake is when you screw up because you don’t do anything. It’s that simple,” he said, noting he also tries to keep his own grandkids on track.

“After COVID, I sat down with them and said, ‘What did you learn?’ And after some discussion, I said, COVID taught you the difference between wants and needs. What did you go without that you really don’t need in your life? Because when I was a kid, everything was a want, everything was a need because we had nothing.”

He credits the Jaycees, a civic and leadership training organization for young adults, with bringing him out of his shell and instilling in him the importance of leadership through community service.

“When I joined the Jaycees, I was an introvert, but the Jaycees really turned me around… and that’s where I learned a lot about my business and charity life because all of a sudden you’re in charge of a project and you have to get people to help you,” he said. “You’re not paying them, and you might not even like them, so I learned that part of human relations through that process …”

John Gullo as a Jaycee. (John Gullo)

Now, as he undertakes a program with Thurl at Ogden High School featuring his book and leadership training, Gullo looks back and is still amazed at what he’s been able to accomplish, sometimes even making fun of certain triumphs, like being the first to put a fast-food restaurant in a gas station of any kind.

“…I went to Russia and I saw McDonald’s and a gas station and I said, ‘Father, forgive me, I know not what I do,’” he quipped.

Mostly, it’s when he realizes his American Dream Foundation has donated more than $2 million since 2002 that he stands in disbelief. In true Gullo style, all the proceeds from his book will go to charity.

“I didn’t go to college, barely got out of high school… you’re talking to a guy that grew up in poverty,” Gullo said. “I realized it took the same amount of energy to cry as it does to laugh, and the choice is mine.”

“The power of one means one person can do a lot,” he added.

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“John’s a man who cares about a lot of things, but is passionate about giving,” Bailey added. “He’s a giver. The world needs more John Gullos.”

A famous mustard brand synonymous with Norwich has been put up for sale.

Colman’s Mustard, which had a factory in Norwich for 160 years, has been put on the market ahead of a merger between Unilever and American food giant McCormick in a deal believed to be worth £48bn.

The company has been deeply rooted in Norfolk after it was founded in 1814 by Jeremiah Colman at Stoke Holy Cross before production moved to Carrow in 1858.

A Unilever spokesperson said: “A decision has been taken to market the Colman’s brand and assets to potential buyers in order to proactively seek to address potential competition concerns from the planned combination of Unilever Foods and McCormick.”

Based outside of Norwich, the firm had a cradle-to-grave ethos and provided education, housing, healthcare and leisure for workers and their families.

A school was built on Carrow Hill in 1864 for employees’ children and the firm supplied coffins for workers and their families, and built a series of terrace houses which were believed to have doors painted mustard yellow.

CHICAGO — Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff and a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan, has his own personalized version of the team’s viral “pope hat” giveaway after a South Side priest delivered the gift to him at the Vatican this week.

The Rev. Tom McCarthy, prior provincial of the Beverly-based Midwest Augustinians, met with the pope Wednesday and presented him with a gift box from the White Sox. The package included an upgraded version of the hat, featuring a sewn-on patch with the team’s logo, along with several of the original giveaway hats, a team jersey, a signed baseball card and a letter from White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, according to Block Club Chicago.

The White Sox posted a photo of McCarthy and the pope holding the hat together on the social media platform X on Thursday, writing that the item had “officially landed at the Vatican.” The image quickly circulated online, drawing hundreds of thousands of views.

The hat traces back to a sold-out White Sox game on Aug. 11 against the Cincinnati Reds, when the team distributed roughly 40,000 of the black-and-gold hats to fans at Rate Field as part of a promotion celebrating the team’s connection to the pope. The design draws on the ceremonial miter worn by Catholic bishops, cardinals and the pope himself, reimagined with the White Sox’s white stocking logo. According to the team, the giveaway was originally planned as a limited-quantity item before it was expanded to include all fans following what the club described as overwhelming demand.

McCarthy attended that August game to accept a 14,000 dollar donation from White Sox charities on behalf of the Midwest Augustinian Province, the Catholic religious order Pope Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, belonged to during his years in Chicago. McCarthy currently holds the same prior provincial position the pope once held within the order in the 1990s.

Speaking to Block Club Chicago about his meeting with the pope, McCarthy said Leo was pleased with the gifts and had one lighthearted regret about the timing. “He did say, ‘Too bad we didn’t win the game,’” McCarthy recalled. The White Sox lost that Aug. 11 contest 5-4 to the Reds, though the team has remained atop the American League Central Division for much of the season. As of this week’s announcement from the club, the White Sox held a two-and-a-half-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the division standings.

McCarthy, who grew up in the Marquette Park neighborhood, told Block Club Chicago that Pope Leo follows the White Sox from Vatican City, though he said he was unsure how closely the pope is able to track games given the seven-hour time difference between Chicago and Rome. During their meeting, McCarthy also recounted other moments from the Aug. 11 game, including a ceremonial first pitch from a former Marian Catholic High School teacher and a stadium-wide performance of the Catholic “Sign of Peace” ritual during the fifth inning, in which fans greeted and shook hands with those seated around them.

McCarthy described that moment as a powerful show of unity that transcended religious background. He also connected the enthusiasm around the pope’s fandom to a broader trend he said he has observed within the church, telling Block Club Chicago that some parishes have reported increased interest from both new converts and lapsed Catholics returning to the faith since Leo’s election.

Pope Leo, who was born in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood and raised in the south suburb of Dolton, has spoken publicly about the connection between sports and community-building since becoming pope in May 2025. He attended Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, when the White Sox swept the Houston Astros for the franchise’s first championship since 1917, and has continued to express support for the team throughout his papacy, including wearing a White Sox cap during a Vatican general audience last year.

Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who has met with the pope and discussed his fandom, has separately described Leo’s enthusiasm for the team as striking given the pontiff’s formal surroundings. According to comments reported by the Catholic Herald, Krishnamoorthi recounted the pope greeting him with a remark about the team’s loss on what had been designated Pope Leo Day at the ballpark, saying he was struck that the pontiff was “following the White Sox so religiously.”

McCarthy said he raised the possibility of Pope Leo eventually visiting Chicago, drawing a comparison to Pope John Paul II’s 1979 visit to the city, and said he came away from the conversation believing a return trip is likely at some point, even without a firm timetable. Demand for the original White Sox pope hat giveaway item has also picked up on the secondary market, with listings on eBay this week ranging from roughly 67 dollars to more than 200 dollars.

Budget-related speculation at minimum this year, according to Lloyds Business Barometer

Business confidence has climbed to its highest level since March, as resilient consumers brush aside the impact of the Iran conflict and with less Budget. speculation that in recent years.

The Lloyds Business Barometer revealed confidence amongst British firms rose four points in August to 53 per cent, the strongest reading since hostilities broke out in the Middle East and above the 12-month average.

Optimism regarding the broader economy also surged to 49 per cent, a notable increase of seven points. Some 64 per cent of bosses surveyed by the lender reported feeling upbeat about the state of the UK, while those expressing pessimism fell to 15 per cent.

“Businesses are reporting stronger customer demand, greater optimism about the wider economy and growing confidence in their own trading outlook,” said Amanda Murphy, chief executive of Lloyds’ commercial arm, as reported by City AM.

“While businesses continue to operate in a challenging environment, easing cost pressures and fewer firms expecting to raise prices in the coming year should allow them to focus less on managing headwinds and more on pursuing growth.”

The surge in confidence comes despite Donald Trump’s campaign in Iran entering its sixth month. The Strait of Hormuz – a critical shipping corridor for the oil and gas trade – has remained closed to the majority of petrochemical exports throughout the conflict, driving up energy prices and strangling the supply of other essential commodities such as fertiliser.

Researchers credited stronger confidence levels to buoyant consumer demand, which has remained resilient despite elevated energy prices and the looming threat of a renewed surge in inflation. On Wednesday, regulator Ofgem confirmed that household energy bills will climb by as much as four per cent from October, reaching their highest level in three years.

Meanwhile, Brent crude has risen by more than 40 per cent since the start of the year.

Price rises have been particularly sharp in refined oil products such as diesel and kerosene – used as jet fuel – the cost of which virtually doubled overnight following Donald Trump’s first strike on Iran.

According to the barometer, companies’ trading outlook rose two points to a three-month high of 58 per cent, with two thirds of firms anticipating an increase in output over the coming year. The proportion of businesses expecting to raise prices in the next 12 months also fell by three per cent to just over half.

Business confidence has been strengthening across several closely monitored surveys, marking a departure from previous summers when widespread Budget speculation eroded fragile private sector morale and dampened investment.

New Chancellor John Healey has up to now chosen to keep a tight lid on speculation regarding which taxes may increase at his first fiscal event in October, despite the broader financial picture pointing strongly towards a higher overall tax burden.