An heir is rented: Chinese billionaire wants 20 children in the USA to leave an empire

Billionaires like Telegram founder Pavel Durov and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have had dozens of children who stand to inherit their empires. Now, an ultra-rich Chinese businessman is doing the same in the United States, hoping to father around 20 children born in the country to inherit his fortune in the gaming sector.

Xu Bo is the founder and chairman of Guangzhou Duoyi Network, one of the largest mobile gaming companies in China. Although the 48-year-old businessman built his company in Guangzhou, he has no plans to transfer his $1.1 billion fortune to a child born in his home country.

An investigation into Xu’s surrogacy history in the US concluded that the Chinese billionaire sought parental rights over at least four unborn children and that he had already had, or was actively having, at least eight other children through surrogacy. The number could be much higher.

According to reports from , the billionaire’s gaming company also stated that Xu has more than 100 children born through surrogacy in the US. He reportedly sought “50 high-quality sons,” according to reports linked to Xu on the Chinese platform Weibo, and stated that “having more sons can solve all problems.”

During a court hearing in 2023, Xu also said that he hoped to have around 20 children born in the US to take over his business in the future, according to . He also fantasized about his American children marrying Musk’s children in the future. Last month, Xu’s ex-girlfriend claimed he had 300 children living around the world, a claim denied by the company.

Duoyi Network later released a statement against , stating that the publication “deliberately confused the facts and fabricated false information” and that only 12 of the supposed more than 100 children were born in the US.

Another billionaire with more than 100 heirs

Xu is among a growing number of ultra-wealthy men who have dozens of children to run their businesses and extend their legacies. Like Xu, the gaming billionaire, Telegram founder Pavel Durov has helped conceive more than 100 babies in 12 countries.

Officially, the businessman, with an estimated fortune of US$14.2 billion, has six “official” children with three different partners. Additionally, Durov has been donating sperm to a clinic for 15 years, which he says has resulted in more than 100 pregnancies.

“I wrote my will very recently,” Durov told French magazine Le Point in an interview in June. “I make no distinction between my children: there are those conceived naturally and those that come from my sperm donations. They are all my children and they will all have the same rights. I don’t want them to fight among themselves after my death.”