One of the fast-rising names on the mainland sports pages this year is Kenneth Huang Jianhua. While he may be six feet tall he doesn't carry a number on his back.
The 46-year-old in May bought 15 per cent of the Cleveland Cavaliers, becoming the first Chinese to own a minority stake in an NBA team. Since then he has become the most sought after person in sports next to the Houston Rockets' Yao Ming.
Born in Guangzhou, the entrepreneur was educated at Zhongshan, Columbia and New York universities. Before graduating to the sports pages, Huang was more acquainted with the wheeling and dealing in the business section.
After graduating from Columbia with a master of Asian studies, he joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1988 as a public relations executive dealing in the listing of Chinese companies. Three years later he moved into private wealth management, a career where he obviously made a lot of money but of which he is reluctant to provide details.
He is still an active investor, putting some US$600 million into companies such as Anta Sports Products, China Railway, Sinoma, Xinxin Mining, Uni-President Enterprises and Dongyue Group.
But while he may have struck a home run in the corporate world, the sports business seems to be his first big love. Part sports fan, part deal-maker, he now has dreams of forming a Chinese sports empire encompassing everything from basketball and baseball to martial arts.