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The “Princelings” series looked at the business dealings of the relatives of China's senior leaders, and how they were able, in some cases, to amass billions of dollars worth of shares in public and private companies. The Times gave a detailed account of the wealth accumulated by the family of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and the relatives of former Central Bank chief Dai Xianglong. The investigation found that much of the wealth was hidden behind layers of private companies, suggesting the wealth was intentionally disguised or hidden from the public. No media outlet had ever offered such a detailed account of the wealth of a family of a senior leader. The Times also found evidence that the family of the prime minister and the former Central Banker received pre-IPO shares of Ping An Insurance after those two senior officials were aggressively lobbied by executives at Ping An and their bankers. The lobbyists had sought special approval or licenses for Ping. The departments the two officials oversaw eventually gave the approval, The Times found.