Who is Bao Fan, billionaire Chinese businessman gone missing?

One of China’s top investment bankers, Bao Fan has become the country’s latest high-profile disappearance. Fan is the founder of major investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd. Bao is also a prominent dealmaker who is known to be heavily connected.

He joins the list of prominent business executives who have gone abruptly missing in recent times. The listed company founded by Fan disclosed that they were unable to contact him in what was called a “truly unusual”. The news sent the shares of the company tumbling down by 50 percent.

China’s latest executive disappearance

Before Bao Fan, several other high-profile Chinese business executives have suddenly gone missing with little to no explanation. At least 5 such people had disappeared in 2015 alone. In fact, days before Bao, vice-chairman of real estate major Seazen Group had gone missing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has responded to questions about the billionaire saying they are unaware of the situation.

Who is Bao Fan?

Known to be among China’s most connected bankers, Bao Fan has worked for the likes of Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse Group during his career. He was born in Shanghai. His parents used to work for the Chinese government. However, he did high schooling in US and then earned college degrees from Shanghai's Fudan University and Norweigian School of Management. He is in his early fifties.

He founded China Renaissance as a company with just two people back in 2005. They focused on connecting startups with venture capitalists and private equity investors. The company has expanded its services to include trading, sales and underwriting. His bank went public in 2018 at Hong Kong Stock Exchange and raised $346 million. As per reports, Bao Fan's net worth is around $1.7 billion.

As per sources, Bao has recently taken increasing interest in the private equity business of the group. Bao Fan has been part of major tech mergers including cab hailing platforms Didi-Kuaidi merger, food delivery firms Meituan-Dianping merger, and travel devices platforms Ctrip-Qunar merger. 

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(With inputs from Reuters)