Surely people in both China and the United States now know the name of Chen Guangbiao, the 45-year-old multimillionaire/entrepreneur/philanthropist/self-promoter back to China a week ago after his much-hyped trip to the US.

The first week of 2014, "Hurricane Chen" swept across New York offering to invest $1 billion in The New York Times and turn it into a bilingual newspaper that promotes a positive image of China.

"The tradition and style of The New York Times make it very difficult to have objective coverage of China," Chen said in his statement published in the Global Times before his trip. "If we could purchase it, its tone might turn around."

Unfortunately that $1 billion did not help him get through the door of the Old Gray Lady, even though, as Chen noted, he was "very good at working with Jews."

Unfazed by this setback, Chen announced he was now considering buying the Wall Street Journal instead.

That deal does not appear to be happening anytime soon.

However, you've got to give Chen some credit. How much does it cost to dominate the US major media for a whole week? It cost Chen a roundtrip airline ticket, hotel rooms and meals.

"I think China needs someone high profile like me to make the world listen to what you have to say," Chen told the Global Times.

"Not that many Americans had heard of me before my visit. Now I'm told that 90 percent of the entire population knows who I am."

Successful failure

Chen probably doesn't know, but from the US media perspective, his soft-power efforts went "terribly wrong," as Foreign Policy magazine noted.

The liberal American magazine New Republic saw another side to the visit: "but the real story was the American media's reaction to Chen: mockery, fascination, and in no small part, fear.

"For American audiences, it's that fearlessness - some would say recklessness - that makes Chen come off as silly, but also a little bit frightening."

Chen admits he does not really understand the American media.

He had once believed that as long as the price is right, there is nothing that cannot be bought.

Recent criticism of this approach did not bother him, he claimed.

"I don't read any of those negative comments, not even a sentence," Chen said. "I can turn a deaf ear to criticism."

So what exactly did Chen do to earn the latest barrage of comments? After a failed attempt to meet with shareholders of the Times, Chen did what he usually does in China: help people.

And he made sure the world knew all about it by throwing a press conference that began with a patriotic performance.

After singing "My Chinese Dream" karaoke style, Chen showed the media the people he wanted to help: two alleged Falun Gong supporters, a mother and daughter who are self-immolation victims. Chen said he would pay for their reconstructive surgery in New York.

If that did not impress, then try his business card. It's so shiny it blinds, the Chinese media joked.

The card lists a mere 10 job titles including "Most Influential Person of China," "China Moral Leader," "Most Charismatic Philanthropist of China" and "China Earthquake Rescue Hero."