Fosun International chair Guo Guangchang is back in action, making an appearance at his conglomerate’s annual meeting in Shanghai after being detained by Chinese authorities last week.
Guo, 48, was reported “unreachable” and apparently missing last week. Though it eventually emerged he had been detained by authorities to assist with an investigation, the development led to Fosun – one of China’s largest private companies, with real estate investments in New York – to halt trading of its stock in Hong Kong.
Fosun president Wang Qunbin revealed the investigation mostly concerned Guo’s personal affairs and not company business, according to the BBC. Guo reportedly received a standing ovation at the Fosun meeting in Shanghai — though the conglomerate’s shares fell more than 10 percent when trading resumed Monday.
With a net worth estimated at nearly $7 billion, Guo is known as “China’s Warren Buffett” for following the American business magnate’s philosophy of pursuing insurance companies as a base for his investments.
Fosun’s sizable interests also include real estate — with the company’s New York holdings including the 60-story, 2.2 million-square-foot 28 Liberty Street office building, which it acquired from JPMorgan Chase for $725 million in 2013. [BBC] – Rey Mashayekhi