It all began in February 2013, at a dinner in Los Angeles organized by Raymond Chan, an official in charge of the city’s building and safety inspection agency. Attending that evening was City Councilman José Huizar, who at age 44 was a rising star in the Democratic Party, and perhaps the future mayor of Los Angeles. A graduate of Berkeley and Princeton, Huizar had championed the redevelopment of downtown Los Angeles, and he chaired the city’s powerful PLUM committee, which gave him oversight of land and property developments. They were joined that evening by Huang Wei, a 54-year-old Chinese billionaire who was eager to build in downtown Los Angeles, which was part of Huizar’s district, the 14th. Although he resided in China, Huang made frequent trips to L.A., and had acquired two sizable pieces of property in the city in 2010 and 2011. On one plot, he planned to build a 77-story tower, which promised to be the country’s tallest building west of the Mississippi River. The