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Why on earth would Xi allow his wealth to be known? The media in China isn’t even allowed to cover basic actions of the CCP. But China is a country run by bribe

by kolbe 6y ago

Why on earth would Xi allow his wealth to be known? The media in China isn’t even allowed to cover basic actions of the CCP. But China is a country run by bribes and guanxi. And all bribes flow up. It is possible he has decided to not accept the payments, but very unlikely.

exclusiv 6y ago
That's precisely my point. We only have some very limited data available. And none of that says anywhere near 200B or multiples of that as you present as a fact.
- kolbe 6y ago
  2015 estimate for Putin was $200b[1] by Bill Browder, who for a period of time, had been mistakenly believed to manage Vlad's wealth, and was active in the privatization investment opportunities in Russia. In 2015, the richest western capitalist was Gates with $80b[2], which means Putin was worth 2.5x more than Gates. Another example of how these kleptocracies tend to funnel wealth up into the top is Kadafi, who was estimated to have died with $200b stashed around the world[3]. At that time, Bill Gates was worth $61b[4]. Without proof, I grant that you can believe whatever you want about Xi. But you can believe he's a unique benevolent snowflake in the history of totalitarians, or you can believe he's just like the rest. I'm going to assume he's like the rest and wait for proof that shows the opposite. [1] https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2015/02/15/putins-net-worth-is-200-billion-says-russias-once-largest-foreigner-investor/ https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2015/02/15/putins-net-wor... [2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2015/03/02/forbes-billionaires-full-list-of-the-500-richest-people-in-the-world-2015/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2015/03/02/forbes-... [3] https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2011-oct-21-la-fg-kadafi-money-20111022-story.html https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2011-oct-21-la-fg-kada... [4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2012/03/07/forbes-worlds-billionaires-2012/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2012/03/07/forbes-wo...

by kolbe 6y ago

exclusiv 6y ago

That's precisely my point. We only have some very limited data available. And none of that says anywhere near 200B or multiples of that as you present as a fact.

kolbe 6y ago
2015 estimate for Putin was $200b[1] by Bill Browder, who for a period of time, had been mistakenly believed to manage Vlad's wealth, and was active in the privatization investment opportunities in Russia. In 2015, the richest western capitalist was Gates with $80b[2], which means Putin was worth 2.5x more than Gates. Another example of how these kleptocracies tend to funnel wealth up into the top is Kadafi, who was estimated to have died with $200b stashed around the world[3]. At that time, Bill Gates was worth $61b[4]. Without proof, I grant that you can believe whatever you want about Xi. But you can believe he's a unique benevolent snowflake in the history of totalitarians, or you can believe he's just like the rest. I'm going to assume he's like the rest and wait for proof that shows the opposite. [1] https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2015/02/15/putins-net-worth-is-200-billion-says-russias-once-largest-foreigner-investor/ https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2015/02/15/putins-net-wor... [2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2015/03/02/forbes-billionaires-full-list-of-the-500-richest-people-in-the-world-2015/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2015/03/02/forbes-... [3] https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2011-oct-21-la-fg-kadafi-money-20111022-story.html https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2011-oct-21-la-fg-kada... [4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2012/03/07/forbes-worlds-billionaires-2012/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2012/03/07/forbes-wo...