Chinese authorities have executed a man convicted of using poison to kill a billionaire sportsman linked to the Netflix show “The Three-Body Problem” over a professional dispute, media reported Tuesday.
Xu Yao was found guilty of murdering Lin Qi, the founder of Shanghai-based Yoozoo Games, which holds the film adaptation rights to the blockbuster science-fiction trilogy known by the title of its first book, “The Three-Body Problem.”
The sci-fi trilogy, by Chinese author Liu Cixin, has been translated into more than 40 languages and adapted into television shows and plays, including the popular Netflix series “3 Body Problem” released in 2024.
Xu, who was the head of a subsidiary of Yoozoo Games, poisoned Lin in 2020 due to the founder’s estrangement shortly after Xu helped his boss strike a deal with Netflix.
Xu was sentenced in 2024, and Shanghai business magazine Yicai Global and other outlets reported that he was executed on May 21.
Lin’s company confirmed his death in a statement on Tuesday on social networking site Weibo.
“Recently, the case concerning Mr. Lin Qi, the founder of the Three-Body Universe, has reached its conclusion, and justice has finally been served,” the statement read.
“All of us at the company are very grateful for the upholding of justice,” it continued.
Yoozoo Games did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for additional comment.
Photo by Zhang Zhi/Red Star News/VCG via Getty Images
The Shanghai People’s High Court did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
According to local media reports, Xu spent hundreds of thousands of yuan (tens of thousands of dollars) to buy highly toxic substances online, including alpha-amanitin, a dangerous compound found in some poisonous mushrooms.
He hid the toxins as probiotic pills, and put them inside coffee capsules, water bottles and whiskey bottles, and shared them with Lin and other company employees. The Hollywood Reporter, citing local media, reported at the time that Lin was sickened by a cup of poisoned tea.
Lin was rushed to the hospital in December 2020 and died a few days later. He was 39 years old.
Several others fell ill but recovered.
The “Three-Body Problem” series is very popular in China and other countries. Liu, its author, was the first Chinese author to win the prestigious Hugo Award, the highest prize of its kind.
Internally, the works have inspired the growth of the sci-fi genre which includes movies, video games, books, magazines and shows.
Lin is ranked No. 870 among China’s richest businessmen with an estimated net worth of 6.8 billion yuan ($1 billion), according to the Hurun Report, which tracks China’s wealthy.
After Lin’s death, the BBC reported that his company released an emotional statement on the official Weibo microblog.
“Hello young people,” he said, adding, “We will be together, continue to be kind, continue to believe in goodness, and continue to fight against all evil.
