Media company by Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui
GTV Media Group Inc. Founded April 20, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-04-20 ) Headquarters , United States
Key people
Total equity US$ 300 million (2020)Website gtv.org Footnotes / references [ 1] [ 2]
GTV Media Group, Inc. is a media company formed in April 2020 by Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui .[ 3] [ 4] The company operates GTV, a Chinese media platform.[ 5]
Prior to forming GTV, Steve Bannon served as an executive of Breitbart News and an advisor to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump . Guo Wengui , also known as Miles Kwok, is a Chinese billionaire fugitive .[ 6] [ 7] Guo paid Bannon $1 million for consulting services related to G News from August 2018 to August 2019.[ 8]
GTV Media Group, Inc. was founded in New York on April 20, 2020.[ 2] In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that GTV Media was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to more than $300 million in private equity funding . Some investors had requested refunds after GTV Media failed to produce official documents validating their investments. Bank accounts of the company were frozen by Wells Fargo and Chase Bank , and a Bank of America account of GTV Media's parent company was closed.[ 9] [ 1] [ 7]
The organization also attracted attention in August following the federal grand jury indictment of Bannon, Brian Kolfage , and several of their associates on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the We Build the Wall fundraising project.[ 1] [ 7] [ 10] [ 6] Guo responded that the charges were "fabricated" and claimed that they were part of a plan by the Chinese Communist Party to "take Mr. Bannon down".[ 11]
Like other entities under Guo and Bannon, this organization has also participated in the spread of non verified information and conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden [ 5] [ 12] as well as misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic .[ 13] [ 14] [ 15]
In September 2021, GTV settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that it participated in the illegal sale of shares and digital securities called G-Coins or G-Dollars. In the settlement, the firms paid more than $539 million.[ 16]
New Zealand operations [ edit ]
GTV formerly hosted Counterspin Media , a far right New Zealand platform promoting far right ideology and conspiracy theories including opposition to COVID-19 vaccines and restrictions. Counterspin's hosts including founder and far right activist Kelvyn Alp and former Green Party activist Hannah Spierer.[ 17] [ 18]
^ a b c Papenfuss, Mary (August 20, 2020). "FBI Now Probing $300 Million Media Company Deal Linked To Steve Bannon: Report" . Huffington Post . Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
^ a b "NYS Department of State Division of Corporations Entity Information" . New York Department of State, Division of Corporations, State Records & UCC . Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
^ Lawson, Charlotte (October 26, 2020). "The Strange Case of Guo Wengui" . The Dispatch . Retrieved January 30, 2021 .
^ Hvistendahl, Mara (November 11, 2020). "Questions Mount About Controversial Hunter Biden-China Dossier" . The Intercept . Retrieved January 30, 2021 .
^ a b Covucci, David (October 26, 2020). "Hunter Biden's laptop is Schrödinger's October Surprise" . The Daily Dot . Retrieved October 27, 2020 .
^ a b Allsop, Jon (August 21, 2020). "Bannon, Biden, the darkness, and the light" . Columbia Journalism Review . Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
^ a b c Spegele, Brian; Hua, Sha; Viswanatha, Aruna (August 19, 2020). "Fundraising at Company Tied to Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui Faces Probe" . The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
^ Swan, Jonathan; Pandey, Erica (October 29, 2019). "Exclusive: Steve Bannon's $1 million deal linked to a Chinese billionaire" . Axios . Retrieved October 27, 2020 .
^ Dilanian, Ken; Blankstein, Andrew; Winter, Tom; Tur, Katy (August 20, 2020). "Who is Guo Wengui, the Chinese billionaire who owns the boat Steve Bannon was arrested on?" . NBC News . Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
^ Melendez, Pilar (August 20, 2020). "Bannon Was Busted on Luxury Yacht Owned by Billionaire Chinese Fugitive" . The Daily Beast . Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
^ "Meet Guo Wengui, Steve Bannon's Chinese-exile friend" . The Economist . August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020 .
^ Aspinwall, Nick (November 2, 2020). "Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon Are Flooding the Zone With Hunter Biden Conspiracies" . Foreign Policy .
^ " 'The truth about COVID-19': How anti-Beijing activists are spreading coronavirus conspiracies" . www.abc.net.au . October 9, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2021 .
^ "A Site Tied To Steve Bannon Is Writing Fake News About The Coronavirus" . BuzzFeed News . Retrieved January 31, 2021 .
^ Qin, Amy; Wang, Vivian; Hakim, Danny (November 20, 2020). "How Steve Bannon and a Chinese Billionaire Created a Right-Wing Coronavirus Media Sensation" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved January 31, 2021 .
^ Song, Zijia (November 12, 2021). "A $27 Billion Token Loved by Exiled Billionaire and Steve Bannon" . Bloomberg.com .
^ Daalder, Marc (February 12, 2022). " 'Splintered realities': How NZ convoy lost its way" . Newsroom . Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2022 .
^ Mitchell, Charlie (February 12, 2022). "Inside the disorienting, contradictory swirl of the convoy, as seen through its media mouthpiece" . Stuff . Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2022 .