Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China
Paperback – September 6, 2022 by Desmond Shum (Author)
ISBN-10 : 1982156163
ISBN-13 : 978-1982156169
Publisher : Scribner
Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China
by Desmond Shum
Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China (Paperback or Softback)
'THE BOOK CHINA DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ' CNN
A riveting insider's story of how the Party and big money work in China today, by a man who, with his wife, Whitney Duan, rose to the zenith of power and wealth—and then fell out of favor. She was disappeared four years ago. News of this book led to a phone call from Whitney, proof that she's alive.In the headline-making and bestselling tradition of Bill Browder's Red Notice comes a unique and incendiary memoir from an entrepreneur who rose to the zenith of power and money in 21st century China and whose wife was disappeared - and then mysteriously reappeared four years later on the eve of Red Roulette's publication and global media coverage about it.
As Desmond Shum was growing up impoverished in China, he vowed his life would be different. Through hard work and sheer tenacity, he earned an American college degree and returned to his native country to establish himself in business. There, he met his future wife, the highly intelligent and equally ambitious Whitney Duan who was determined to make her mark within China's male-dominated society. Whitney and Desmond formed an effective team and, aided by relationships they formed with top members of China's Communist Party, the so-called Red Aristocracy, he vaulted into China's billionaire class.
Soon they were developing the massive air cargo facility at Beijing International Airport, and they followed that feat with the creation of one of Beijing's premier hotels. They were dazzlingly successful, travelling in private jets, funding multi-million-dollar buildings and endowments, and purchasing expensive homes, vehicles and art. But in 2017, their fates diverged irrevocably when Desmond, while living overseas with his son, learned that his now ex-wife Whitney had vanished along with three co-workers.
In Red Roulette Desmond Shum pulls back the curtain on China's ruling elite and reveals the real truth of what is happening inside China's wealth-making machine. This is both Desmond's story and Whitney's, because she has not been able to tell it herself.About the Author
Desmond Shum, who was born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong, developed the largest air cargo logistics facility in China, the Beijing Airport Cargo Terminal. He also led the development of the Bulgari Hotel in Beijing. In addition, starting in the early 2000s, he was an early pioneer of philanthropy in China, gifting extensively both domestically and internationally. Desmond holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States, and is a graduate of the joint-EMBA program of Northwestern University (US) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.Editorial Reviews
"Shum knew he was picking a fight with the CCP the minute he decided to write Red Roulette and is aware he is now a marked man — he has reviewed his will and made sure his affairs are in order. 'This is my David and Goliath fight," he says. 'Except it's Goliath times a million.'"
—The Sunday Times (UK)"Offers a rare peek into the luxe lifestyles of China's elites…a vivid portrait."
—The Washington Post"Red Roulette was already shaping up as a must-read account of corruption at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party. But the sudden reemergence last week of Whitney Duan, Shum's former wife, four years after disappearing into apparent arbitrary detention in Beijing, has made the book a news story."
—POLITICO, China Watcher
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