Justin Sun allegedly posted and removed a note on Chinese social media platform Weibo that acknowledged his overzealous marketing tactics and apologized to the head of the news agency that first reported the purported investigation of his businesses. The suggestion of the since-deleted post comes just days after Sun called off his lunch with Warren Buffett due to ill health, which was followed by claims he was being detained in China while his business practices were being investigated.
Caixin Says Sun Escaped Travel Ban
Sun yesterday posted photos and a video of himself in San Francisco to prove that he wasn’t land locked in China in an attempt to put the speculation to bed. Chinese news agency Caixin, who were cited by Twitter user cnLedger as the source for the travel ban information, doubled down on their theory that Sun wasn’t supposed to leave China but had managed to escape to the U.S. in November of that year, although quite how he managed it is unclear. It is for this reason, they say, that Sun has been “mostly abroad” since 2019.
Update 2: Caixin reconfirms Justin Sun on exit ban list since 2018. Sun was anxious, asked around to find who issued the ban. He managed to get to the U.S. in Nov 2018. As for what method he used to leave China, how he got around or temporarily lift the order is still unknown. pic.twitter.com/HtNuQPxyyF
— cnLedger (@cnLedger) July 24, 2019
Sun Supposedly Apologizes
A second more explosive post Thursday from cnLedger was a translation of a piece supposedly written by Sun himself on Weibo, where he stated that he “deeply regrets about his over-marketing and being keen on speculation”, expressing the most regret over the “unsuccessful overmarketing” of the Buffett lunch which now looks dead in the water. In the translation, Sun also expresses his respect to Caixin founder Hu Shuli and Wang Xiaochuan, CEO of China’s second largest search engine, and promises to “actively cooperate with…regulatory agencies”, reduce his Weibo activities and cut down the marketing hype. One thing to bear in mind is that the post is no longer available, which raises the possibility that it never existed at all and that Caixin are trying to cover themselves for the earlier error regarding Sun’s presence in San Francisco when they had claimed he couldn’t leave the country.
Update 3: Justin Sun apologizes for the over-marketing, expresses his respect to Caixin founder and Sogou CEO, promises he will cooperate with regulators, and reduce marketing hype to focus on blockchain R&D. pic.twitter.com/69xic65ajB
— cnLedger (@cnLedger) July 24, 2019
Sun Draws Unwanted Attention
Whatever the truth ends up being, the whole episode reflects poorly on Sun and at the very least further heightens his level awareness among Chinese authorities, which could well end up being the worst possible outcome of all.
