Based in Shanghai, John Cappo heads the China division of AEG, the Los Angeles-based sports and entertainment venue company. AEG China manages the Shanghai World Expo Performing Arts Center, which will be renamed the Mercedes-Benz Arena in November, and Wukesong Arena, the refurbished Olympics basketball stadium.

Wake at 5am, check my BlackBerry and scroll through the 100 or so e-mails to see which need immediate attention. Next is Hatha yoga; I do 30 to 60 minutes a day – when I try not to think about e-mails.

After seeing my daughters off on the school bus, I eat breakfast and start replying to e-mails. The first is from my assistant Michelle Li, a trained lawyer, who has flagged all the items on a Chinese contract with one of our sponsors for the World Expo Performing Arts Center in Shanghai, our flagship venture in China. China Merchant Bank wants clarification on the meaning of “exclusivity”; I have to explain that other banks will be allowed to display their signs when they sponsor a particular event. We have four big founding sponsors signed up for deals ranging from $7.4m (€6m, ￡5m) to $12.1m for six to 10-year deals – Coca-Cola, Budweiser, China Merchant Bank and Moet-Hennessy Diageo; we're negotiating with six more.