Week Around the Ists
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Cinematheque: Mulan is finally Chinese again! (and other film news)
Shanghai Internet entrepreneur David Li, 32, had people talking at the annual Napa Valley wine auction on Thursday when he bid $500,000 for six magnum bottles of 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon. Apart from an $840,000 multi-bidder lot, Li's was the highest winning bid that night. While Reuters sees Li's bid as further proof of China's fast-growing wine market, Shanghaiist wonders who this guy is. Li told Reuters he had recently sold his Internet company for $3.5 billion last year, making him a certifiable multi-billionaire. But after searching high and low, Shanghaiist can't find one Google hit on him prior to his bid. He is nowhere to be found on the Hurun IT Rich List and the only Chinese news article we found on this Napa auction looks like it was translated from English and only has him down as Mr Li. Just who is this mystery man? It strikes us as odd that a 32 year old Internet billionaire would be so un-Google-able. Any leads are welcome. A very tiny, blurry picture of him is available here.
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Hmm, would this guy be related to a senior cadre?
And how much has he contributed to the earthquake relief fund or the Burma flood victims' fund?
I wonder if that $500,000 wine will end up mixed with coke and ice cubes...
I happen to know an internet entrepreneur in Shanghai named David Li. Coincidence? I will ask him and get back to you on that.
Sina market cap is 2.7 billion USD.
There are only a handful of internet companies in China worth 3.5B USD, and their names we all know and they are all public companies.
Perhaps the "internet company" is called "State Social Security Administration" or "Tax Bureau" or "Shanghai Road Works Administration." Dot com.
As to how many tents for homeless Sichuanese these "six magnum bottles" of wine could have bought, it goes to show you (again) that patriotism is for the masses, not the classes.