While the Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem has grown an audience for its intriguing tale, the show’s behind-the-scenes has also garnered attention for a harrowing yet real story.
In 2020, the Chinese media was rocked with news of the death of tech billionaire Lin Qi, an executive producer behind the saga. In what was dubbed as a story akin to a dark Hollywood blockbuster, a former executive of his company had orchestrated the fatal poisoning of the billionaire, which soon led to the culprit’s death sentence.
Ahead, learn more about the producer behind the 3 Body Problem and the story behind the reports.
Who Is Lin Qi? 10 Things About the “3 Body Problem” Billionaire Producer
1. Lin Qi was born in 1981.
Dubbed the “billionaire millennial,” Lin Qi was born in 1981 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, an eastern coastal province in China. According to reports, his family ran a coal mining business.
2. Lin Qi studied computer information in college.
For his higher education, Qi was enrolled at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, where he took up computer information as his major. During that time, the future billionaire had taken different jobs on the side. “During my four years in college, I ate lunch in a box for two years and spent half the time staring at the computer,” he previously said.
3. Lin Qi worked for various companies before starting his own business.
Before he earned his stature in China’s video gaming industry, Qi was employed by several companies after graduating in 2004. Among his resume listings were a job as a software engineer in Zhejiang Telecom for a year and as a partner in an advertising agency.
4. Lin Qi was the founder of China’s Yoozoo Games.
Just as the Chinese market grew an interest in mobile phone games and virtual items, Qi launched Yoozoo Games in 2009. The company produced a series of multiplayer games that soon became a hit among the country’s players, including “Wuxia”-themed games–those that revolved around martial arts in ancient China–and 2019’s Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming, based on the popular HBO fantasy series.
With its success as a gaming company, Yoozoo has also expanded into television and film production.
5. Lin Qi had a net worth of about $1 billion before his death.
Yoozoo’s achievements turned Qi into one of China’s youngest billionaires, earning him a net worth of about $1 billion in 2019, according to the Hurun China Rich List.
6. Lin Qi was a "hardcore" video game enthusiast.
Given his industry, Qi had a profound interest in video games in his past time, beginning from elementary to high school. Aside from this, the tech magnate was also said to have enjoyed tea, soccer, car racing, and Chinese calligraphy.
7. Lin Qi envisioned “The Three-Body Problem” as China’s answer to Hollywood’s sci-fi blockbusters.
With movie-making as one of his childhood dreams, Qi was notably passionate about championing The Three-Body Problem and its series Remembrance of Earth's Past, an acclaimed Chinese sci-fi saga by Liu Cixin. The billionaire hoped to pose it as China’s version of Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars, and envisioned the saga to stem movies, television shows, video games, and anime spinoffs internationally. In 2014, Qi began to purchase copyrights and licenses for the franchise and reportedly spent $150 million.
8. Lin Qi is credited as an executive producer in Netflix’s “3 Body Problem.”
Qi’s mission of turning The Three-Body Problem into an international phenomenon began to take root when Netflix announced in September 2020 that the books would be adapted into a series by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The billionaire was signed on as an executive producer, with the series premiering on the streaming service in March 2024.
9. A former colleague had fatally poisoned Lin Qi.
Lin Qi, however, wasn’t able to witness the series see the light of day. Xu Yao, a former executive of the subsidiary that handled The Three-Body Problem’s rights, had fatally poisoned the billionaire in an act of revenge, after being demoted and receiving a pay cut due to “poor performance.”
The culprit was reportedly inspired by the American series Breaking Bad, sourcing toxins and poisons from the dark web and testing them in a makeshift lab in Shanghai.
10. Lin Qi passed away on Christmas Day at 39 years old.
In 2020, Xu Yao began to spike beverages, bringing them to the office. According to reports, the culprit gifted Qi a bottle of pills, which contained lethal toxins.
Qi entered the hospital and died 10 days later, said to be on Christmas Day. At least five toxins were reportedly found in his body. The police arrested Xu Yao, and years later, was sentenced to death for murder.
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