It's supremely fitting that China's Warren Buffett got caught in Beijing's anti-graft net. By disappearing business guru Guo Guangchang in ways that spooked investors, authorities reminded us of the naked truth behind their opaque and arbitrary campaign to end corruption: it's as much about settling personal scores as cleaning up China Inc.
That's why President Xi Jinping gets the first of our annual Naked Awards. As Buffett famously said, it's only when the tide goes out that we learn who's been skinny dipping. And 2015 was a banner year for nakedness, when economies lost their mojo, leaders and corporate chieftains lost their way and many an investment portfolios proved to be bottomless. Without further ado, here are the personalities, companies and dustups that accessorized Asia's year. Drum roll, please!
Nude Emperor Award: Sorry to broach the image (some readers may be eating), but Xi has long been cloaked more in the style of a royal than China's latest president. His government's bizarre purge of Fosun's Guo (he has since reappeared) devastated the company's shares and probably has more executives than ever moving assets abroad. Yet it's emblematic of a strongman who talks a great game of reform, but acts fearfully. The epic stock-market rescue last summer alone suggests there's more panic than confidence in Beijing as growth slows, bad debts mount and Xi's insecurities look awfully exposed.