Mystery $50 billion Chinese medical fortune collapses in days
When Yat-Gai Au was worth $US33 billion ($50 billion) on paper, he wasn't in his Hong Kong office.
One week later, when his net worth plunged to $US10.1 billion, he wasn't around either.
Officers at the headquarters of Regencell Bioscience Holdings said both times that Au made only short visits there, before turning away reporters. The firm, a NASDAQ-listed, Cayman Islands-incorporated traditional Chinese medicine company, occupies the whole ninth floor of a tower in Hong Kong's bustling Causeway Bay, including a reception area with a large table tennis table.
Little is still known about the tiny, money-losing company whose shares exploded 82,000 per cent higher and suddenly made Au, its chief executive officer with an 86 per cent stake, richer on paper than some of the city's tycoons like Li Ka-shing. The fleeting nature of its rip-roaring rally has captivated and mystified observers from the US to Hong Kong. Morning Brew, a popular business account on X, flagged its stock move and wondered: 'Is there something I'm missing?'
Regulators in the US, which closely monitor wild swings in stock prices, might soon be asking the same question, according to experts.
Loading
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the watchdog for broker-dealers, has repeatedly said small, cheap stocks are more susceptible to fraud. These companies can be targets for pump-and-dump schemes in which frauds inflate the stock price and quickly sell their shares.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, has been increasingly wary about companies listed on US exchanges that are based overseas, and Regencell checks both boxes. The regulator on June 4 called on the public to weigh in on whether the agency needed to amend the definition of what's called a foreign private issuer, potentially limiting the number of companies that qualify for special status that lets them avoid filing quarterly financial reports or disclosing when executives buy or sell company shares.
'This is an example of very unusual movements in share prices,' said Richard Harris, founder and chief executive of Port Shelter Investment Management in Hong Kong. 'These movements could certainly trigger interest by investigators.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
an hour ago
- AU Financial Review
Donald Trump says he's found buyers for TikTok
President Donald Trump said on Sunday (Monday AEST) that he had a buyer for the US branch of TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned video app that faces a ban over national security concerns. In an interview on the Fox News program 'Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo,' Trump said, 'We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way.' He added that he would need China's approval, but 'I think President Xi will probably do it,' in reference to China's leader, Xi Jinping. Trump did not disclose who the potential buyers were, saying only that it was 'a group of very wealthy people'. He added, 'I'll tell you in about two weeks'. The fate of TikTok has been unclear for months. A law approved in 2024 required that the app be effectively banned in the United States unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold it to a non-Chinese company, over concerns that sensitive user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government. While the law called for a sale by January 2025, Trump has repeatedly declined to enforce the law and extended the deadline three times. Finding a buyer for TikTok is only one part of reaching a deal to avert a ban of the app in the United States because the Chinese government will need to signal its approval of any sale. In April, the White House believed it was close to reaching a deal that would put 50 per cent of the app's ownership in American hands. A draft executive order describing the broad outlines of the deal had been circulated. But then Trump announced tariffs on Chinese imports, and ByteDance told the White House that Beijing would not let the deal for TikTok proceed. It's unclear whether the deal would comply with the US law on TikTok, if ByteDance chose not to share the app's algorithm with the US buyers. Private equity firms have been hesitant to invest in a deal without some form of indemnification. Representatives for Vice President J.D. Vance, who has been assigned to handle the deal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. TikTok also could not be immediately reached for comment.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Wall St gains amid trade negotiations, rate cut bets
Wall Street has extended its rally, sending S&P 500 and Nasdaq to all-time closing highs as trade deal hopes fuelled investor risk appetite and economic data helped solidify expectations for rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve. Stocks pared gains after US President Donald Trump terminated trade negotiations with Canada in response to its digital tax on technology companies. Even so, all three major US stock indexes posted weekly gains. Upon reaching its record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq confirmed it entered a bull market when it touched its post "liberation day" trough on April 8. The blue-chip Dow remained 2.7 per cent below its record closing high reached on December 4. "This market's been pretty resilient," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. "Investors are riding momentum and looking for breakouts." "They don't want to get caught on the wrong side of this thing," Carlson added. "Many investors already have missed out. And now you have the S&P flirting with an all-time high." The Personal Consumption Expenditures report from the Commerce Department showed consumer income and spending unexpectedly contracted in May. And while tariffs have yet to affect price growth, inflation continues to hover above the Fed's 2.0 per cent annual inflation target. A separate report from the University of Michigan confirmed consumer sentiment has improved this month but remains well below December's post-election bounce. Financial markets have priced in a 76 per cent likelihood that the Fed will implement its first rate cut of the year in September, with a smaller, 19 per cent probability of a rate cut coming as soon as July, according to CME's FedWatch tool. The United States and China reached an agreement to expedite rare-earth shipments from China to the US, a White House official said, well ahead of the July 9 expiration of the 90-day postponement of US President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs. Additionally, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration's trade deals with 18 of the main US trading partners could be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 432.43 points, or 1.00 per cent, to 43,819.27, the S&P 500 gained 32.05 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 6,173.07 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 105.55 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 20,273.46. Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, consumer discretionary enjoyed the biggest percentage gain, while energy shares were the laggards. Chipmaker Micron's upbeat forecast revived investor confidence in artificial intelligence-related stocks while Nvidia rose 1.8 per cent, edging closer to $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) market capitalisation after reclaiming its position as the world's most valuable company. Nike's shares jumped 15.2 per cent after forecasting a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter revenue. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.29-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 347 new highs and 55 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,111 stocks rose and 2,342 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.11-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 35 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 101 new highs and 68 new lows. Volume on US exchanges was 22.07 billion shares, compared with the 18.27 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
ASX set to edge up, Wall Street hits records; Trump says he has buyer for TikTok
US stocks closed at an all-time high, another milestone in the market's remarkable recovery from a plunge caused by fears that the Trump administration's trade policies could harm the economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent, finishing above its previous record set in February. The key measure of Wall Street's health fell nearly 20 per cent from February 19 through April 8. The market's complete turnaround from its deep swoon happened in about half the time that it normally takes, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. 'Investors will breathe a sigh of relief,' he said. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.5 per cent and set its own all-time high. The Dow Jones rose 1 per cent. Loading The Australian sharemarket is set to inch up, with futures on Saturday pointing to a rise of 5 points, or 0.1 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar is steady. It was fetching 65.28 US cents at 5.16am AEST. President Donald Trump's decision Friday to halt trade talks with Canada threatened to derail Wall Street's run to a record, but the market steadied after the S&P 500 briefly turned negative. The gains on Friday were broad, with nearly every sector within the S&P 500 rising. Nike soared 15.2 per cent for the biggest gain in the market, despite warning of a steep hit from tariffs.
