NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- This week's Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition centerpiece profiles the scandalous past of Norman Hsu -- who navigated his way through a wide variety of business ventures and eventually ended up in politics.
"Mr. Hsu's background, illuminated by reams of documents fished out of storage at various courts and interviews with friends and partners over the years, is full of failed businesses, a kidnapping, and lawsuits," writes Journal reporter Ianthe Dugan in this week's Weekend Edition. "He charmed friends, relatives and college classmates into setting up real estate, restaurant and apparel businesses, many of which either never materialized or failed. He later turned that same skill of raising funds for politicians. A major source for his funds -- both in business and politics -- appears to have been from fellow Asian-Americans."
Beginning in the early 1980s, Mr. Hsu got involved in a dizzying range of enterprises in California, including real estate and restaurant businesses. After failing to provide products or profits, several of his investors sued, resulting in Mr. Hsu filing for bankruptcy protection. In 1991, one of the investors brought the case to the state attorney general who filed grand theft charges against Mr. Hsu. Mr. Hsu vanished to Hong Kong before his sentencing, where he would later file for personal bankruptcy again.
After stirring up controversy in Hong Kong, Mr. Hsu returned to California and established himself as a major donor and fundraiser for various Democratic candidates. He managed to become a prominent figure in the political world, while remaining largely anonymous, keeping most details of his life secret.
Additional stories appearing in this week's Weekend Edition of The Wall Street Journal include the following:
Money & Investing: * Abusive Sales Tactics: Senate testimony in the past few days has shed surprising new light on one of the most common sales tactics used to separate older people from their retirement savings: the free-lunch seminar. Securities regulators from Washington to Alabama have laid bare "abusive sales tactics" uncovered during a year-long examination of free-lunch meetings across the country, which are often used to sell variable annuities and other potentially costly investments to seniors. * Nasdaq-100 Index: The Nasdaq-100 index of big tech stocks is up nearly 14% this year, nearly twice the rise of the Dow and more than three times the increase of the S&P 500. The Journal explains why. Pursuits: * Media Savvy Fashion Designers: The job of fashion designer used to be about designing clothes. But lately, the most successful designers are those who are telegenic, media savvy -- in short, celebrities in their own right. One of the masters of this game is 48-year-old Michael Kors, who has parlayed his role as a professional critic on TV reality-fashion show "Project Runway" into a perch as one of fashion's hottest media stars. * Grooming Place-kickers: The sports world is rife with athletes who were groomed for stardom as toddlers, but most of those kids dream of scoring a game-winning touchdown or throwing a no-hitter. Jake Van Ginkel dreams of long field goals. He's part of a growing subset of young athletes who are being groomed to be place-kickers, the specialists who typically are about half the size of most of their teammates and often attract attention only when they fail. The Journal looks at the training program that aims to get him to the NFL.
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The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (www.dowjones.com), is the world's leading business publication. Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of nearly 2.1 million, reaching the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 33 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, The Wall Street Journal provides readers with trusted information and knowledge to make better decisions. The Wall Street Journal print franchise has more than 750 journalists world-wide, part of the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,800 business and financial news staff. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of 2.6 million, include The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. In 2007, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the eighth consecutive year. The Wall Street Journal Radio Network services news and information to more than 280 radio stations in the U.S.
Editor's Note: WSJ reporters are available to discuss these topics.
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