OUT OF BLACKWATER AND INTO AFRICA: After being ‘blowtorched’ by U.S. politics, he says, this time he’s working for Beijing. “I would rather deal with the vagaries of investing in Africa than in figuring out what the hell else Washington is going to do to the entrepreneur next.”

Also: “There’s very little advantage to being an American citizen anymore. They tax you anywhere in the world you are, they regulate you, and they certainly don’t help you, at all.”