http://apps.ycombinator.com/item?id=1353307 yields the following information:

Max Klein does not exist. He is an identity created by Mark Essien (www.essien.org).

The posting is worth a read in my opinion.

Wow, thanks. I had sometimes chatted with Max Klein on Twitter. It's quite a weird feeling to realize that he doesn't actually exist (almost Hollywodish).

Does that mean all business, relocation and other stories are fiction?

I exist! Come visit me!

Interesting. Where are you based out of? I am curious because the commenter's reasoning sounded plausible.

I'm in Shenzhen at the moment. Look in my flickr (little icon on blog), I've got recent photos there.

I actually had a beer with Max last week in Shenzhen. He is definitely real and quite interesting :)

Nice try, another Max identity :P

Didn't some other popular blogger meet Max Klein in Thailand a while back?

wow- where did that website come from??

I think it should be read as a parable, not a true story.

I think Max, who- or whatever he really is, once stated he's consciously creating some kind of online persona? No idea what he intends to achieve, though.

So the 'successful business' which sprang from nowhere over the past year doesn't actually exist? The whole 'relocate to China to save a few bucks' craziness didn't really happen?

That would explain a lot, as this emerging story reads more like a fictional dot.com tale.

Edit: Thanks PRS. I won't be wasting time with 'Max Klein' posts in the future.

The mentor in the story is most likely many different people or the man Max Klein would like to be in his life. If they are many different people, he just rolled them all into one for story telling.

I can't see how someone who purposefully picks fights could be considered a valuable mentor though.

To my eyes, Max Klein headlines occasionally look as if penned by Tim Ferriss.