Li Pak-tam
Li Pak-tam | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Other names | Li Botan |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Venture Capitalism |
| Spouse | Jia Qiang |
| Children | 2, including Jasmine Li |
Li Pak-tam, also known as Li Botan, is a Chinese businessman and socialite. He is one of the three primary backers of the American electric car startup Canoo[1] which was spun off from Faraday Future.[2]
Family and personal life
[edit]He is married to Jia Qiang.[3] This makes him the son-in-law of Jia Qinglin[4] a top Chinese Communist Party official who was the fourth most powerful man in China before his retirement in 2013. Li has two daughters, a daughter named Zidan (Jasmine) Li, and another graduated from Harvard College in 2023.[5][6] Both Li Pak-tam and Jasmine Li hold Hong Kong residence cards.[7]
Career
[edit]Li Pak-tam is the founder and former chairman of the board of Beijing Zhaode Investment Co and has also started a number of companies in Hong Kong.[5]
In 2016 LI was implicated in the Panama Papers leak. The documents revealed that he was the owner of a firm named Fung Shing Development Ltd., which had been set up in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven. His daughter Jasmine was also named in the Panama Papers, her shell company Harvest Sun Trading Ltd. shared a director, Polly Pau Tsz-yim, with her father's BVI shell company.[5] In 2015 The New York Times reported that Li was using an employee named Pan Yongbin as a proxy to hold 32 million shares of Wanda Group, then valued at $200 million.[8]
In October 2019, Li's stake in Canoo was revealed by a lawsuit filed by Christina Krause, the wife of co-founder Stefan Krause. Along with Li, Krause and German industrialist David Stern are Canoo's primary backers.[1] The company started in 2017 when Krause pitched Li and Stern on the idea in Hong Kong. After the meeting, the three reportedly entered into a gentleman's agreement to start the company. Li and Stern provided the startup capital.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Korosec, Kirsten. "EV subscription startup Canoo, co-founder sued for alleged harassment". techcrunch.com. Tech Crunch. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ Neidermeyer, Edward. "EV Startup Canoo Debuts First Subscription-Only Vehicle". www.thedrive.com. The Drive. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ Cheng, Kris. "Relatives of ex-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping are HK residents – Panama Papers report". www.hongkongfp.com. Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ Forsythe, Michael. "Wang Jianlin, a Billionaire at the Intersection of Business and Power in China". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ a b c Catherine Wong, Nectar Gan and. "Son-in-law of ex-senior Chinese leader Jia Qinglin named in latest batch of Panama Papers". www.scmp.com. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ "The question in China: what Panama Papers?". www.fcchk.org. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "Cadres' relatives have permanent Hong Kong IDs: Panama Papers". www.ejinsight.com. ejinsight. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ Bing, Fang. "Author of NY Times China Investigation Explains Process". www.voanews.com. Voice of America. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ O'Kane, Sean. "EV startup Canoo's mysterious backers named in new harassment lawsuit". www.theverge.com. The Verge. Retrieved 9 October 2019.