In July 2016, Kushner Companies began talks with Anbang Insurance Group of China about a potential investment in the building. The talks picked up prominence after Anbang's chairman and CEO Wu Xiaohui held a private dinner with Jared Kushner, Charles Kushner, and Laurent Morali on November 16, 2016 at the Waldorf Astoria New York. This was despite Kushner's supposed separation from the Kushner Companies as part of his transition to his White House role. Benjamin Lawsky, the former New York Superintendent of Financial Services who met Xiaohui while investigating Anbang's 2015 purchase of Fidelity & Guaranty Life, reportedly introduced Kushner and Xiaohui. Chinese corruption expert Minxin Pei suggested the transaction could be a way for Xiaohui to buy political influence and protect himself from the anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping by cultivating powerful allies in the United States government. Xiaohui was eventually jailed in China in June 2017 and ultimately sentenced to 18 months in prison for a variety of financial crimes. The meeting also stoked controversy as it came just one week after Donald Trump won the 2016 United States presidential election.