Miles Guo — or Guo Wengui or Ho Wan Kwok, depending on who you ask — was a true business legend who climbed his way up from middle school dropout and convicted criminal in northeastern China to billionaire real estate mogul and one of China's richest men. According to the BBC, Guo moved to a $67.5 million New York City penthouse in 2014, where he gave interviews and described himself as a dissident who had fled communist oppression for the land of opportunity.
He cultivated legions of fans with a formidable social media presence, who in turn invested hundreds of millions of dollars in his businesses and cryptocurrency ventures. He proudly displayed his success on social media, showing off yachts, an enormous Gilded Age mansion, exotic cars, and more. He was a capitalist success story, and his admirers thought he might one day return to China, overthrow the communist regime, and become president.
But in 2022, Guo abruptly filed for bankruptcy, claiming just $3,850 in assets — all while completing an $18 million renovation on his mansion. A court-appointed trustee disagreed with Guo's assessment, and started selling off the exotic cars and luxury yachts in order to satisfy creditors. Guo's fans remained fiercely loyal — until the other shoe dropped in 2023, when the Department of Justice arrested him for fleecing investors for a billion dollars.
Guo still sits in jail awaiting trial, and the bankruptcy case is nowhere near concluded, with more than 1,200 unsatisfied claims against his ill-gotten gains. After four years, the bankruptcy trustee is still combing the world to uncover Guo's hidden assets, which so far include hundreds of bank accounts, a Mercedes-Maybach in a tow lot, and a $130,000 Bosendorfer grand piano in a Staten Island warehouse.
And as for that hasty exit from China, Guo probably has only himself to blame. Nine large construction companies have also joined the list of creditors, all alleging that Guo hired them during his stint as a real estate developer in China. They did more than $100 million worth of work — and Guo skipped town.
