Scandals haunt top-level execs

(chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2011-05-19 18:23

Wang Gongquan(L), a partner of CDH Investments, announced Monday via Sina micro blog that he plans to elope with Wang Qin(R) [Photo / CFP]

Wang Gongquan, a partner of CDH Investments, announced Monday via Sina micro blog that he plans to elope with Wang Qin, the founder of Jiangsu Zhongfu Science and Technology Industrial Group Co.

The message soon attracted major attention on the country's micro blog sites.

CDH issued a letter saying that Wang "is taking some time off and that both the venture and private equity fund were operating normally."

CDH manages over $5.5 billion from more than 100 international and domestic institutional investors, including China's National Social Security, a sovereign wealth fund, according to information on the company's website.

Micro-Bloggers give their views

What will divorce cost him?

Cai Dabiao

Cai Daobiao, former chairman and president of China's Kungfu Fast Food Chain Co, was accused of having an 11-year affair. His ex-wife Pan Minfeng made the accusations in March 2009, which was a critical time for the company's overseas listing.

Pan sued Cai a month later, calling for a return of her 25 percent of the company's equity.

Cai is now in police custody for funds embezzlement and job occupation.

Yang Haoran

Yang Haoran, the founder and president of the national classified information Website Ganji.com, divorced his wife Wang Hongyan in 2008.

The divorce led to a conflict of interest. Wang sued Yang for "invalid property transfer" in May 2010, and then Yang filed suit applying an "invalid marriage" with his ex-wife Wang that October.

The deadlock is still going on, according to media reports.

Wang Wei

A lawsuit between former lovers has complicated business for the online video company Tudou Holdings, as it aims to list shares in the US.

The term "ex-wife" didn't appear in Tudou's original initial public offering (IPO) prospectus in November, but it appears 22 times in a revised version filed in late April.

Rumors of a potentially problematic dispute between Tudou Chief Executive Gary Wang and his ex-wife have run rampant in Chinese tech-watching circles for months. But the company hadn't confirmed anything until disclosing details in last week's filing. According to the official document, Wang's ex-wife, who isn't named in the document, filed a lawsuit against him in a Shanghai court in October that could disrupt the company's operations and finances.

Tudou's IPO, in which it would sell up to an estimated $120 million in shares, has been delayed since November for reasons that are unclear.

Sun Taoran

Sun Taoran, the shareholder of BlueFocus PR Consulting, which is a professional public relations services provider, divided his 11,555,000 shares with his ex-wife Hu Linghua on May 12.

Sun now holds 5.03 percent of the company's shares while Hu holds 4.59 percent.

According to the settlement price of the stock market that day, Sun handed over 167 million yuan to his ex-wife.

A man walks past front pages of newspapers featuring International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest, at a central kiosk in Paris May 16, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn makes his first appearance in court on Monday since being accused of trying to rape a hotel maid in a case that sent shockwaves through French politics and left the IMF in turmoil.

His lawyers said he would plead not guilty to charges of a criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape that could bring a humiliating end to his public career and political ambitions.

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