(Bloomberg) -- Ricardo Salinas Pliego is no stranger to controversy and crisis. Over decades, the entrepreneur has feuded with business partners, investors and regulators as he built an empire that’s made him Mexico’s third-richest person.

But even for Salinas, the current financial predicament is dire — and also a little odd.

That’s because the bulk of his $10.5 billion wealth is tied up in a company, Grupo Elektra, that is poised to plunge in value as soon as it begins trading again on the Mexican stock exchange. This is where things get weird. Officials have been trying for days to lift the halt on the stock that was imposed in July, only to give up once buy orders hit trading screens in the pre-market auction.

The problem: the bids are so shockingly low, coming in at less than 50% of the stock’s value in July, that the market circuit breaker designed to limit volatility is immediately tripped, and the stock is halted again without a single transaction taking place. So for official bookkeeping reasons, Elektra’s shares are still worth the same 944.95 pesos they were quoted at on July 26, and Salinas’ wealth remains, precariously for now, intact.

The cause of the initial ban was, like many things involving Salinas, a bit mysterious. Salinas himself had triggered the trading halt in July when he alleged a creditor had used the company shares to fund a $110 million loan.

Lawyers for the billionaire said most of the shares appeared to have been sold, pushing the stock price down — with the rest allegedly pocketed by the creditor. The creditor has denied any wrongdoing.

Index Suspension

What followed the allegations of fraud was easier to understand — after a month of no trading, Elektra got booted from the country’s main stock gauge, leaving it without the crucial support of index-tracking funds needed to support the share price. Which is why traders have been lobbing in such lowball bids when the exchange tried to restart trading.

In another unusual twist, lawyers for Salinas are fighting in court to prevent the stock from trading. On Friday morning, Elektra said that resuming trading would cause “irreparable damage to the company” adding that the exchange and regulators would be responsible for any “adverse effects.” It is, analysts said, a not-so-veiled play to keep the stock price from collapsing.

“It’s a golden cage — looks real pretty but it’s still a cage,” said Carlos Legaspy, chief executive officer of broker-dealer Insight Securities Inc.

A spokesperson for the billionaire didn’t respond to requests for comment on Elektra or his wealth.