Fosun shares halted after magazine says billionaire chairman unreachable

Guo is exceedingly well connected; he is a member of the Communist Party’s National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber-stamp legislature, and his rolodex is a who’s who of China’s business and finance community.

Fosun mirrors the strategies of Berkshire Hathaway, with Mr Guo often called the Warren Buffett of China.

Shares in the Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Chinese company Fosun Group have been suspended after Caixin magazine reported the investment company’s billionaire founder Guo Guangchang had gone missing.

When asked about Guo’s whereabouts, Fosun Group Vice Chairman Liang Xinjun said in a text message that the company is “handling” the situation.

Rumors have been circulating in mainland social media since yesterday afternoon, including one that said a witness was with Guo on the same flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai, and that the 48-year-old billionaire was taken away by police in handcuffs.

Mr Guo, who famously founded Fosun in 1992 with three fellow university graduates from Shanghai’s Fudan University, was listed by Forbes as China’s 11th wealthiest man, worth $US7.3 billion, on its latest rich list.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical has also been placed in a trading halt. His companies own Club Mediterranee SA and Greek jewelry brand Folli Follie, as well as a stake in Cirque du Soleil Inc.

Guo Guangcheng, head of the Chinese firm that is the main financier of Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8, has disappeared, according to unconfirmed media reports in China. And in return, it said, Guo sold two villas, valued at 4.77 million yuan at the time, to Wang’s parents for 2.08 million yuan in 2003.

However, BBC Chinese reported that Fosun management staff denied Guo had been detained.

“The missing chairman is going to have a big impact on investing in China and the performance of the company”, said Cyrus Ng, an analyst in Hong Kong at China Galaxy Securities Co.

In August, Fosun was forced to put out a statement after Mr Guo was named in a corruption court case in Shanghai. Wang was sentenced to 18 years for bribery and embezzlement.