Bo Guagua

Bo Kuangyi (born 17 December 1987), more commonly known as Bo Guagua, is the second son of former Chinese politician Bo Xilai and the only child of Gu Kailai, his father's second wife.

Bo attended Harrow School, read PPE at Oxford University, and studied for a master's degree at Harvard University.

Brendan obtained his master's degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in 2003.

At the age of 12 Bo began studying at Papplewick School in England, then went on to Harrow School.

Bo was the first Chinese citizen to attend Harrow.

He attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

He had an active social life and in his second year he ran unsuccessfully for a prominent position in the Oxford Union, a debating society.

Bo struggled in his academic work and was required to sit further exams to maintain his grades.

According to classmates, Bo failed the exams and was "rusticated" (suspended) for one year.

Three Chinese diplomats went to see Dr Andrew Graham, the Master of Balliol College, and sought to have the rustication revoked, explaining that Bo's academic probation would be a source of embarrassment to his father and grandfather in China.

The request to reinstate Bo was denied.

The following year, Bo achieved "respectable marks" during his final exams, according to The New York Times, and passed with a 2:1 degree (upper second class honours) overall, having obtained first class honours in Philosophy.

Notwithstanding, The New York Times asserted that Bo's tutors declined to provide him with recommendations for his application to Harvard.

After his suspension at Oxford, Bo reportedly lived in a luxury flat at the Randolph Hotel.

He was also reported to drive a $80,000 black Porsche sports car, having collected violations for running stop signs in December 2010 and May 2011, and for speeding in February 2012.

A front-page story in The Wall Street Journal alleged that he was seen stepping out of a red Ferrari wearing a tuxedo in early 2011 at the residence of then-U.S. ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr.. This anecdote was later challenged by The New York Times, which reported that Huntsman's daughter had been picked up by the function's organisers, while Bo had arrived at the function in a chauffeur-driven Audi, and was not wearing a tuxedo.

Bo organised trips to China for his classmates and invited Jackie Chan to appear at a function at Oxford.

During his time at Oxford, Bo was featured in the Chinese edition of Esquire.

Bo's university directory page with Oxford describes him as the founder of the Guagua Internet Company, which isn’t well known.

Because his father was a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official, Bo Guagua's life has been an occasional topic of news media gossip, which intensified, and gained considerable international attention when his father was removed from office in March 2012.

Both his parents came under investigation in the alleged homicide of family friend, Neil Heywood, who also reportedly helped Bo during his time in the UK.

Bo's father is often described as a "princeling" (offspring of CCP elite); his lifestyle, and privileges typify those of fuerdai, and far exceed those of regular Chinese people of his age.

Bo's father, Bo Xilai, was a high-profile CCP official and Politburo member until his removal from office in 2012.

His paternal grandfather, Bo Yibo, was a prominent revolutionary leader and one of the Eight Elders of the CCP.

Bo's mother is Gu Kailai.

She is a lawyer who also hails from a prominent family; her father Gu Jingsheng, was a Communist revolutionary.

Her mother Fan Chengxiu was a descendant of the renowned Song dynasty prime minister and poet Fan Zhongyan.

Gu is the second wife of Bo Xilai.

Bo has a half brother "Brendan" Li Wangzhi (李望知), from his father's first marriage to Li Danyu.

He was ultimately admitted to the Masters program in public policy at its Kennedy School of Government, from which he graduated in May 2012.

On 24 April 2012, Harvard University school newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, published a statement by Bo, in which he stated that his tuition and living expenses were "funded exclusively by two sources—scholarships earned independently, and my mother's generosity from the savings she earned from her years as a successful lawyer and writer."

He denied that he had ever driven a Ferrari.

He enrolled in Columbia Law School beginning Fall 2013.

After his father was stripped of all official titles by the Chinese Communist Party, there was much public speculation about how he was able to go to private schools in the UK and the US on his father's salary of $20,000 per year.

The private Harrow School he attended costs $48,000 per year; then Oxford University's tuition alone costs about $25,000 per year; Harvard University's Kennedy School requires about $70,000 a year for both tuition and living expenses.

Bo's three-year course at Columbia, one of the most expensive law schools in the United States charges tuition and other fees of more than $60,000 a year, on top of which living expenses have to be factored in.

The Wall Street Journal reported that he was living at a luxury apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts at a monthly cost of approximately $2,600.

In 2016, Bo, graduated from Columbia Law School, with a Juris Doctor degree.

As of December 2019 he was living in Canada and working for the Power Corporation for two and a half years as a business analyst.

This corporation is owned by the Desmarais family, who have maintained close ties to the Bo family for three generations.