ExclusiveHere’s how tai chi (and Warren Buffett) inspired Fosun founder to become one of China’s biggest asset buyers

When Guo Guangchang bought his first American asset, 28 Liberty Building (formerly known as One Chase Manhattan Plaza) in the financial heart of New York in 2013, he envisaged American camaraderie, backslapping and good nature throughout his US business.

He wanted his new employees to call him George, recalling the personal way CEOs such as Citigroup’s Sandy Weill had dealt with employees.

However, the American employees at the New York office called him Guo zong (Director Guo), language copied from Chinese officialdom.

“I started sending out office memos addressing everybody as tongxue (fellow students), and signing off myself as Guo tongxue,” he says. “That finally did the trick.”

Learning is serious business for Guo. An ardent tai chi student, he sets aside significant space in every office worldwide for a tai chi studio, for himself and employees. In space-conscious Hong Kong, Guo’s tai chi studio adds about HK$200,000 per month in rent.

“Life in general is an endless process of learning,” Guo says. “We draw our inspiration from a number of successful businesses around the world: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway for its long-term investing, Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa for managing a successful empire in Asia, and from GE for its diversity of businesses.”