Gu Guodong Resigns as COO of Danke Apartments

Today we lead off Mingtiandi’s round up of people moves around the region with some top-level turnover to go with the turmoil at Beijing-based Danke Apartments. Also in the stressed department, WeWork India has named a new CFO, chief counsel and head of sales. There are fresh hires at ESR and New World too – plus much more.

New York Stock Exchange-listed Danke Apartments has lost one of its top officers, with chief operating officer Michael Gu Guodong having resigned from the company, according to local news reports. Danke, which listed on the NYSE in January, was revealed to be under investigation in June of this year after receiving complaints of failing to meet its obligations to tenants and landlords. A former Baidu vice president, Gu had joined Danke in 2019 and is said to be leaving for personal reasons.

WeWork India had hired former ESPN executive Clifford Lobo as its new chief financial officer, according to local news reports citing a statement by the company. Lobo is tasked with growing the shared office provider through partnerships as well as mergers and acquisitions. At the same time that it introduced Lobo as CFO, WeWork India, which is a joint venture between New York-based WeWork and India’s Embassy Group, also announced a new chief counsel and new head of sales.

JLL executive Corey Hamabata has won the Rising Star Award for 2020 from the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) and the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP), according to a recent announcement. A senior vice president for Asia investment sales with JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality Group, Hamabata has been with the company since 2011 and relocated to Singapore with the firm in 2015.

Edison Li has joined ESR in Shanghai as an investment manager with the warehouse specialist, according to an update to his LinkedIn profile. Li joins the Hong Kong-listed developer and fund manager after spending a year as an asset management associate with Mosser Capital in California. The graduate of the Master of Science program at Columbia University also has previous experience at CLK properties in the New York City area.

Tiffany Poon has joined New World Development in Hong Kong as a senior officer with the company’s asset management division, according to an update to her LinkedIn profile. Poon joins the Hong Kong-listed giant after four years with property consultancy Knight Frank in the city, where she served most recently as an assistant manager with the capital markets department. The graduate of University College London also has previous experience with UK developer British Land.

Fangchao Dong has joined Far East Horizon in Hong Kong as a capital manager with the Hong Kong-listed investment bank, according to an update to his LinkedIn profile. Dong joined Far East Horizon this month after just four months as a senior investment manager with Guangzhou Yuexiu Industrial Investment Management. The Boston University graduate also has previous experience with China Orient Ruichen Capital and CBRE in Shanghai.

If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.