The Chinese-born billionaire owner of Wentworth golf club, sylvan playground of City bankers and TV celebrities such as chat show host Sir Michael Parkinson, is facing a fresh legal assault on his embattled drinks-to-leisure empire.
Chanchai Ruayrungruang, one of Asia’s richest men with a fortune estimated at $11bn by the Hurun Rich List, is being counter-sued in Britain by the one-time head of his international operations, Ni Songhua, against whom he issued a lawsuit.
In the suit, which exposes the informal and sometimes ad hoc management style of Reignwood, Mr Chanchai’s company, Mr Ni alleges that the golf-mad tycoon reneged on a series of promises to reward him for buying the group’s overseas assets.