Guo Wengui: Power hunter or prey?

Guo Wengui 郭文贵 is an exiled Chinese billionaire real estate developer, whose projects include Pangu Plaza, a seven-star luxury hotel in Beijing.

He has been living in New York since 2015, and is wanted by the Chinese authorities. In 2017, he took to the internet to broadcast a variety of allegations about corruption at the highest levels of the Chinese government.

A 2015 Caixin magazine investigation into Guo called him a “power hunter” 权力猎手. He disagreed.

“[Caixin editor] Madam Hu Shuli once published several articles that were a fatal blow to me. One of them called me a ‘power hunter.’ On the contrary, I am a power prey.”

Power hunter or prey? An answer can be discerned from the fates of some high-profile connections of Guo.

Ma Jian, the former deputy director of the Chinese National Security Bureau, was investigated by prosecutors for corruption charges.

According to Ma, Guo bribed him with more than 60 million yuan.

“This is only the beginning,” he ominously wrote in one tweet.

On Twitter, Guo posts workout selfies and retweets fan-created memes of himself.

In 2006, Guo reportedly told a journalist that he carried cyanide tablets in case anti-corruption officials ever came for him. “Journalists can rely on their clean conscience,” he said. “Being a businessman is like being a prostitute. You should never do business.”