Investigated, jailed, killed: China’s young gaming tycoons suffered in 2020, as did their companies


By Josh Ye

Three of China’s billionaire gaming executives have faced investigation, criminal conviction and death, adding to the tumult of the country’s gaming industry. Lin Qi (pic) drew international attention when he died on Christmas from a suspected poisoning. — SCMP

A group of Chinese gaming industry executives in their 30s, who had shared a rise in fame and fortune to become the country’s youngest billionaires in recent years, have suffered setbacks and misfortunes in 2020 in another sign of the unpredictability of China’s business world.

In the latest case, Wang Yue, the 37-year-old billionaire founder of Shanghai Kingnet Network, was sentenced by a Shanghai court to five-and-a-half years in prison for manipulating stock prices, the company said in an announcement on December 25.

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