GTV Media Group, Inc. is a media company formed in April 2020 by

Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during t ...

and

Guo Wengui Guo Wengui (; born May 10, 1970—self claim or October 5, 1968), also known under the names Guo Haoyun (), Miles Guo, and Miles Kwok, is an exiled Chinese billionaire businessman who became a political activism, political activist and controls ...

. The company operates GTV, a Chinese media platform.

Background

Prior to forming GTV,

served as an executive of

Breitbart News ''Breitbart News Network'' (known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentary website founded in mid-2007 b ...

and an advisor to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

, also known as Miles Kwok, is a Chinese

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

fugitive A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...

. Guo paid Bannon $1 million for consulting services related to G News from August 2018 to August 2019.

History

GTV Media Group, Inc. was founded in New York on April 20, 2020. In August, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that GTV Media was being investigated by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) and

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC) related to more than $300 million in private equity funding. Some investors had requested refunds after GTV Media failed to produce official documents validating their investments. Bank accounts of the company were frozen by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

and

Chase Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fina ...

, and a

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

account of GTV Media's parent company was closed. The organization also attracted attention in August following the federal grand jury indictment of Bannon,

Brian Kolfage Brian Kolfage is an American political activist, former United States Air Force airman, and convicted fraudster. He co-founded We Build the Wall, a private organization that purportedly aimed to construct a privately funded barrier on the Mexi ...

, and several of their associates on charges of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

in connection with the

We Build the Wall We Build the Wall is an organization that solicited donations to build private sections of the wall along the Mexico–U.S. border. It started as a GoFundMe campaign by United States Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage in December 2018. Kolfage a ...

fundraising project. Guo responded that the charges were "fabricated" and claimed that they were part of a plan by the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

to "take Mr. Bannon down". Like other entities under Guo and Bannon, this organization has also participated in the spread of now verified information and conspiracy theories about

Hunter Biden Robert Hunter Biden (born February 4, 1970) is an American attorney who is the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden and his first wife Neilia Hunter Biden. He is also a hedge fund, venture capital, and private-equity fund investor who for ...

as well as misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, GTV settled with the

over allegations that it participated in the illegal sale of shares and digital securities called G-Coins or G-Dollars. In the settlement, the firms paid more than $539 million.

New Zealand operations

GTV formerly hosted

Counterspin Media ''Counterspin Media'' is a far-right, anti-vaccine, and conspiracy theorist New Zealand online media platform that was founded in May 2021. ''Counterspin Media'' has opposed the New Zealand Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic includi ...

, a far right New Zealand platform promoting far right ideology and conspiracy theories including opposition to

COVID-19 vaccines A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...

and restrictions. Counterspin's hosts including founder and far right activist

Kelvyn Alp Kelvyn Glen Alp (born 27 March 1971) is a New Zealand far-right politician and activist. During the 1990s, Alp established a paramilitary organisation called the New Zealand Armed Intervention Force. During the 2020s, Alp founded a far-right med ...

and former

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

activist Hannah Spierer.

References

{{reflist Steve Bannon 2020 establishments in New York (state)

Background

History

New Zealand operations

See also

References