Zhang Lei (investor)

Zhang Lei (Chinese: 张磊 born 1972) is a Chinese billionaire private equity businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Hillhouse Capital, the largest private equity firm operating in Asia as of October 2021.[1] As of August 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$3.0 billion.[2]

Zhang Lei
张磊
Zhang in 2012
Born1972 (age 5051)
Alma materYale School of Management
Yale University
Renmin University
OccupationBusinessman
TitleFounder and chairman, Hillhouse Capital
Children2

Early life

Zhang received a scholarship to Renmin University of China, where he received a bachelor's degree in economics in 1994.[3][4]

In 1999, Lei took a class taught by David F. Swensen, who was the chief investment officer of the Yale Endowment.[3] Swensen became a mentor to Zhang, leading to Zhang interning at the Yale Endowment, his first position in finance.[3] During his studies, Zhang interned at the Yale University Endowment.[3][5] Zhang translated Swensen's book, Pioneering Portfolio Management, An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment (2000), into Chinese while studying at Yale, which, according to the Financial Times, involved creating new Mandarin words for "endowment" and "fiduciary".[3] Lei's investing philosophy is largely based on Swensen's teachings.[3]

In 2002, he received an MBA and MA in international relations from Yale University.[6] After graduating from Yale, Lei took a role with Virginia equities firm EMM, covering Southeast Asia.[7][8] He obtained certification as a chartered financial analyst (CFA).[5]

Hillhouse Investment

Zhang founded Hillhouse Investment in 2005, with S$20 million of seed capital from Yale University.[9] Hillhouse invests globally, with a particular focus on Asia, and manages about US $50 billion of assets as of September 2018.[10] Known investors include Yale, Stanford and CPPIB.[11]

In addition, Hillhouse closed the Real Assets Opportunities Fund (RAOF) with over $2 billion, with support of $300 million from CPPIB.[12]

Executive positions

Zhang has sat on, or currently sits on, the board of directors of: JD (formerly 360buy),[3] Qunar (China's largest online travel vertical), Global Mediacom (Indonesia's largest media / TV / pay TV conglomerate),[5] and Blue Moon (a Chinese household care company).[6][13][14] He is a founding board member of the United World College (UWC) of Southeast Asia Foundation.[13] Zhang is vice chairman and a trustee of the board at Renmin University of China.[14] He is a trustee of the Yale-NUS College and the chair of the Yale Asia Development Council.[14] He is a member of the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council.[15] In June 2016, the governing board of Yale University, Yale Corporation, appointed Zhang as a successor trustee.[16]

Philanthropy

Zhang donated US$8.88 million to the Yale School of Management, the largest alumni donation in the history of the school.[3] He also established Gaoli Academy[17] (高礼研究院) by donating money together with support from Renmin University.[18][13] In 2010, Zhang donated $1.4 million to his alma mater, Renmin University of China.[19] In 2017, he donated another $43 million to an education fund for the school[19] and gave the commencement speech to the graduating class of 2017.[20] Zhang started Hillhouse Academy in association with Renmin University to prepare students in business for the technological revolution.[21]

Zhang is involved, and holds roles, with the BN Vocational School (BNVS) in China. BNVS started in 2005 as the first non-profit charitable vocational school at secondary school level in China that does not require fees. There are BNVS campuses in a foreign country: Angola, and the nine following cities: Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Lijiang, Nanjing, Sanya, Wuhan, Yinchuan, and Zhengzhou.[22][23]

Zhang funded a low-budget docudrama called Kang Rinpoche (Paths of the Soul) in 2017.[24]

Personal life

Zhang is married, with two children, and lives in Hong Kong.[2]

References

  1. Wu, Kane (28 October 2021). "Hong Kong's PAG seeking to raise $9 bln with new buyout fund". Reuters.
  2. "Forbes profile: Lei Zhang". Forbes. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  3. Sender, Henny (20 June 2014). "Zhang Lei has Lunch with the FT". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  4. "Zhang Lei". Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  5. "Lei Zhang CFA". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  6. Stevenson, Alexandra. "The Chinese Billionaire Zhang Lei Spins Research Into Investment Gold". New York Times. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  7. "毕业之后,张磊进入了全球新兴市场投资基金,主要负责南非、东南亚以及中国的投资项目,时". 休闲阅读 (in Chinese). Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  8. 艾问 (17 March 2021). "高瓴资本张磊:究竟是哲学家还是"资本戏精"?". 界面新闻 · JMedia (in Chinese). Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  9. "Lei Zhang – Hillhouse Capital Management (Beijing)". Value Investing Congress. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  10. Hu, Bei (19 September 2018). "Hillhouse Gets $10.6 Billion for Year's No. 3 Buyout Fund". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  11. "Lei Zhang - Hillhouse Capital Management (Beijing)". Value Investing Congress. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  12. "HILLHOUSE REACHES $2B CLOSE ON FIRST ASIA REAL ESTATE FUND WITH $300M BOOST FROM CPPIB". Mingtiandi. 21 August 2022.
  13. "Brookings Announces New Trustees". Brookings Institution. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  14. "Mr Zhang Lei". Yale NUS College. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  15. "Council Membership". Financial Services Development Council. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  16. "Yale announces new trustees, senior fellow". Yale University. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  17. "Hillhouse Academy". Hillhouse Academy. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  18. "Mr Zhang Lei joins the Yale-NUS Governing Board". www.yale-nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  19. "Hillhouse Capital's Zhang Lei Establishes US$43M Education Fund For Renmin University". China Money Network. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  20. "给中国人民大学捐3亿的张磊:用人文的情怀雕琢自己美化身边_财经上下游_澎湃新闻-The Paper". www.thepaper.cn. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  21. Yue, Pan (26 June 2017). "Hillhouse Capital's Zhang Lei Establishes US$43M Education Fund For Renmin University". China Money Network. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  22. "Once a Dream in Mind". BNVS. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  23. "About BNVS". BNVS. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  24. "Alumni in Action". Financial Times. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
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