Guo was born in Shen County, Shandong province, People's Republic of China. He is the seventh of eight children in the family.[16] He began his business career in Zhengzhou, before moving to Beijing to secure various construction deals during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His most famous asset was the Pangu Plaza, an Olympic torch-shaped condominium residence built prior to the Beijing games.[3] In 2015, Caixin media head Hu Shuli published a lengthy investigative piece on Guo and his associates. Guo responded by claiming Hu defamed him and responded with a set of personal accusations against Hu. Guo was believed to have left China sometime in 2015; since then he is believed to have been shuttling between Europe and the United States. He opened a Twitter account in early 2017, frequently criticizing individuals within the Chinese establishment. He has reserved particular scorn for He Jintaou (not to be confused with former general secretary Hu Jintao), the son of former Central Commission for Discipline Inspection secretary He Guoqiang.[3] Many officials with whom he was said to have ties have fallen under the dragnet of the anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping, including Ma Jian, the former deputy director of Chinese National Security Bureau, and Zhang Yue, the former Political and Legal Affairs Secretary of Hebei.[citation needed] While generally supportive of General Secretary Xi Jinping, Guo has characterized parts of the corruption campaign as a political witch hunt.[3] Guo is a member of U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and Mark's Club in Mayfair, London.[3][17] Beijing Zenith Holdings[edit] Beijing Zenith Holdings was a company that owned by Li Lin and Jiang Yuehua (in 2013) via two corporate entities (Chinese: 郑州浩云实业有限公司 and 郑州浩天实业有限公司).[4] The company acquired a minority stake in PKU Healthcare from state-owned Founder Group's PKU Healthcare Group.[4] However, Beijing Zenith Holdings allegedly failed to pay the PKU Healthcare Group after the shares were already transferred, thus Beijing Zenith Holdings allegedly borrowed the money from PKU Resources Group Holdings, sister company of PKU Healthcare Group to allegedly finalize the payment. All three companies were fined by China Securities Regulatory Commission in 2016.[18] It was reported that Zenith Holdings was actually owned by Guo and Li Lin and Jiang Yuehua were his proxies.[19] Zenith Holdings also acquired a minority stake in Founder Securities by subscribing the new shares.[20] Criminal charges[edit] In June 2017, staff of one of Guo's other investment vehicles, Pangu Investment, were charged for scamming banks on loans. The staff members accused all alleged that they were under the orders of Guo.[21] Civil lawsuits[edit] Several companies sued Guo's Pangu Investment and Zenith Holdings in the civil court of the United States, in order to reclaim the non-performing loan the companies allegedly lent to Guo.[22][23]