Li Ruigang is universally described as the most connected individual in Chinese media, and for good reason. His China Media Capital fund holds big stakes in Imax China and Oriental DreamWorks, has a television station in Hong Kong and has joint ventures with Warner Bros and other major studios, and owns 13 per cent in the holding company of Manchester City Football Club.
But for a man whose partners include Hollywood luminaries such as Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive of DreamWorks Animation, he is hardly the showbiz type.
Flamboyance usually does not go down well in China. But it is especially perilous in the politically sensitive media business.