Red Roulette

“THE BOOK CHINA DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ.” —CNN​

SELECTED AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by THE ECONOMIST and FINANCIAL TIMES

This “powerful and disturbing” (Bill Browder, author of Red Notice) New York Times bestseller is narrated by a man who, with his wife, Whitney Duan, rose to the top levels of power and wealth—and then fell out of favor. Whitney had been disappeared four years before, but this book led to her dramatic reemergence.

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, traveling 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 residing overseas with his son, learned that his now ex-wife Whitney had vanished along with three coworkers.

This vivid, explosive memoir shows “how the Chinese government keeps business in line—and what happens when businesspeople overstep” (The New York Times) and is a “singular, highly readable insider account of the most secretive of global powers” (The Spectator).

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.

Summary

In the headline-making—and bestselling—tradition of William Browder’s Red Notice comes a riveting memoir from a man who rose within the ranks of China’s ultra-rich only to see his business partner-wife mysteriously disappeared.

After the Communist Revolution, Desmond Shum’s grandfather, a lawyer, had one chance to leave China—and instead chose to stay. The government shut down his law firm and seized his house. Officials marked his family as belonging to a “black category” that included former landlords and rich peasants—meaning the Shums would be stigmatized and impoverished. As Desmond was growing up, he vowed his life would be different.

Through hard work and sheer tenacity Shum went to college in America and returned to China to make his name in business. There, he met his future wife, the highly intelligent and equally ambitious Whitney Duan. Whitney and Desmond formed an effective team and, powered by a set of relationships they formed with top members of the Red Aristocracy, vaulted into China’s billionaire class. Soon they were developing the massive air cargo facility at Beijing International Airport, and they followed that feat by developing one of Beijing’s premier hotels. They were dazzlingly successful, traveling in private jets, funding multi-million-dollar buildings and endowments, and purchasing expensive homes, vehicles, and artwork.

But in 2017, their fates diverged irrevocably when Desmond, while residing overseas with his son, learned that his now ex-wife Whitney had been disappeared—consigned to some unknown fate—along with three coworkers.

In Red Roulette Desmond Shum pulls back the curtain on China’s ruling elite and tells the story of a remarkable woman who rose to prominence in a strongly patriarchal society. Written from a desire to reveal the real truth of what is happening inside China’s wealth-making machine, this eye-opening tale features a memorable cast of real-life characters.

Additional text

“Desmond Shum’s Red Roulette gives us a rare inside peek at the cossetted Chinese elite who parlay their connections with Politburo members into billions. This is a world of Chateau Lafite, Rolls Royces, and $100 million yachts, where friendships are strictly transactional.  Although the book can be fun and gossipy, it's also poignant, and, ultimately, we come away with rich insights into the workings of the Chinese Communist Party and the billionaires it has spawned.”
—Barbara Demick, author of National Book Award Finalist Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea and Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town, and former Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times

Product details

• Authors: Desmond Shum, To Be Confirmed Scribner
• Publisher: Scribner USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.09.2021
• EAN: 9781982156152
• ISBN: 978-1-982156-15-2
• No. of pages: 310
• Dimensions: 162 mm x 238 mm x 28 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Non-fiction book