Cash Gifts Disappear from Chinese Mogul’s Lunch for Poor

Chinese philanthropist Chen Guangbiao’s free luncheon for New York’s poor Wednesday turned sour when the approximately 200 homeless guests learned the flamboyant recycling magnate would not be doling out promised cash gifts to diners, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal write.

Mr. Chen pledged in a full-page Times advertisement last week that the meal at Central Park’s Loeb Boathouse would include $300 for each participant. That plan changed after he asked the New York City Rescue Mission to supply its clients as guests. The charity agreed, provided Mr. Chen did not hand out cash, which mission officials feared would be used to buy drugs and alcohol.

The two parties signed a contract under which Mr. Chen agreed to donate $90,000 to the mission instead. When he announced at the event that he would give out cash, charity officials intervened, allowing him only to symbolically present $100 bills to a select group of homeless people, who returned it after a photo opportunity. The lack of a general giveaway prompted angry shouts from lunch guests, some calling the host a “con man” and “liar.”

The lunch—which included a program of speeches, magic tricks, and Mr. Chen singing “We Are the World"—was the latest in his line of high-profile philanthropic gestures, which have been derided by some as publicity stunts. On Chinese social media, many of Mr. Chen’s compatriots criticized the event, saying his money would be better spent helping the needy in his own country.