Fortune of Jailed Chinese Billionaire’s Family Survives in Exile

The relatives of mogul Xiao Jianhua, convicted in China after his 2017 abduction in Hong Kong, have quietly built an enigmatic family office involved in deals worth billions.

The WinnerMax Capital offices.

Photographer: Ari Altstedter

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Xiao Jianhua was one of China’s wealthiest people when a group of men abducted him at the Four Seasons resort in Hong Kong and rolled him out in a wheelchair with a blanket over his head.

He was held in secret detention for five years in mainland China while regulators picked apart a financial empire that helped him build an estimated $6 billion fortune at its peak. Xiao emerged in public last month for the first time since 2017, only to be sentenced to 13 years in jail.