Behind a Chinese Powerhouse, a Web of Family Financial Ties
Over the next two decades, Mr. Wang set up companies
that managed properties, as well as supplied computers, software services, seafood and Cuban cigars to Hainan Airlines and its parent company, the HNA Group.
When Hainan Airlines first sought to establish a presence in the United States in the 1990s,
Mr. Chen’s younger brother, Chen Guoqing, set up Pacific American Corporation in New York.
“We signed a contract with Hainan Airlines and we met with Wang Jian and Wang Wei, his younger brother,” Mr. McGarey said.
The company recently passed a United States government review to win approval for its $6 billion acquisition of the California technology company Ingram Micro, a process
that requires transparency about corporate ownership, financing and affiliates.
Corporate documents show that their relatives — including brothers and one co-chairman’s son — established dozens of companies
that do business with HNA and its affiliates, selling food, planes, spare parts, repairs and cigars.
In the past 25 years, HNA has regularly funneled business to a small group of relatives
and associates of the company’s senior executives, dealings with limited disclosure to investors in its listed companies or its overseas bonds, according to a review of thousands of corporate records by .
The family of Mr. Chen, HNA’s co-founder and co-chairman, also forged business alliances with the company.
