Leo Koguan is an Indonesian-born Chinese American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the chairman and co-founder of

SHI International Corp SHI International Corp. (commonly referred to as SHI), headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, is a privately owned provider of IT infrastructure, end-user computing, cybersecurity, and IT optimization products and services. SHI has customers in th ...

and was the third-largest individual shareholder in

Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...

Biography

Leo was born in Indonesia in 1955 to Chinese parents. He then moved to the United States and graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

School of International and Public Affairs The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the international affairs and public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university located in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. It ...

and

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

. Leo co-founded SHI International Corp., an enterprise software company headquartered in

Somerset, New Jersey Somerset is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.Thai Lee Thai Lee (born 1958) is a Thai-born Korean American billionaire businesswoman, the co-owner, CEO and president of SHI International, reported by ''Forbes'' to be the largest woman-owned business in the US. In 2019, she was the 5th wealthiest Se ...

. He also invested in luxury hotel development in Shanghai's

Xintiandi Xintiandi (, Shanghainese: ''Shinthidi'' lit. "New Heaven and Earth",Warr, Anne: ''Shanghai Architecture'', The Watermark Press, 2007, fig. "New World") is an affluent car-free shopping, eating and entertainment district of Shanghai. Xintiand ...

district through his shares in

Shui On Land Shui On Land Limited () is the flagship property company of the Hong Kong-based Shui On Group. It is engaged in developing large-scale city-core development projects and integrated residential development projects in major cities in China, inclu ...

. Leo is known in Mainland China for his philanthropic activities to a number of top universities. In 2008, Leo donated $30 million to

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a public research university in Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university was established on April 8, 1896 as Nanyang Public School (南洋� ...

, which renamed its law school after Leo. He also donated $28 million to

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

, which named one of its law school buildings after Leo. He endowed scholarships at Peking University and was named an honorary trustee. He was a donor to

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

, which named the new Tsinghua University Law Library after Leo. He also made a $12.5 million donation to

Fudan University Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...

, which named its law building after him. Initially a retail investor, Leo picked up stock trading in 2019 and amassed a fortune through his position in Tesla. He is the company's third largest individual shareholder, behind Elon Musk and

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

Personal life

In 1989, Leo Koguan married Thai Lee, who is now the President and CEO of SHI International. They divorced in 2002. Leo lives in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. In October 2020, he paid S$62m for Singapore's largest penthouse,

Guoco Tower Guoco Tower is a mixed-use development skyscraper in Tanjong Pagar of the Downtown Core district of Singapore. With a height of , it is currently the List of tallest buildings in Singapore#Tallest buildings, tallest building in Singapore, break ...

’s Wallich Residence, from British inventor and billionaire entrepreneur Sir

James Dyson Sir James Dyson (born 2 May 1947) is a British inventor, industrial designer, farmer, and billionaire entrepreneur who founded Dyson Ltd. He is best known as the inventor of the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the princip ...

. As of March 2022, Leo has a net worth of $7.8 billion, according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koguan, Leo Living people American people of Chinese descent American technology company founders American philanthropists Chinese philanthropists Indonesian people of Chinese descent Tesla, Inc. people New York Law School alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni 1955 births 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople