Oded David "O. D." Kobo (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: קובו עודד) is a
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
-born Internet businessman. He is the co-founder of PIR Equities and Israel Investment Partners (IIP), both employee owned
private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...
s,
and a member of the partnership network of ADASAKI Global Advisory.
According to the
Sunday Times Rich List
The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...
in 2019, Kobo's net worth is estimated to be £75 million. In November 2021,
Entrepreneur Magazine
''Entrepreneur'' is an American magazine and website that carries news stories about entrepreneurship, small business management, and business. The magazine was first published in 1977. It is published by ''Entrepreneur Media Inc''., headquartere ...
ranked Kobo amongst the world's top 50 richest in blockchain with an estimated net worth of $200 million.
Early life
Kobo was born in Hong Kong, to Bebo and Ruth Kobo.
He moved to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at the age of 16.
At the age of 17 he attended the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
for finance and business administration.
He also received education in
New York, NY
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Career
Kobo's business interests have ranged from technology to property to private equity with nearly US$1 billion in exits.
Kobo started his career at the age of twenty-one by licensing patented technology to the online lottery industry with e-Lottery (once the domain holder of Lottery.com). He later established several China based investment firms namely KGIM and SinoSheen of which both were partnered with the Prime Minister of Qatar
Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Mohammed bin Thani Al Thani ( ar, حمد بن جاسم بن جبر آل ثاني; born 1959), also known informally by his initials HBJ, is a Qatari politician. He was the Prime Minister of Qatar from 3 April ...
. KGIM was acquired in 2010 for US$120 million by East River Capital (a subsidiary of the
Qatar Investment Authority
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ar, جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In 2021 ...
) and SinoSheen had invested in companies such as
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
,
Netease
NetEase, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce. The company was founded in 1997 by Ding Lei. NetEase develops and operates online PC and mobile game ...
and
Alibaba
Ali Baba (character), Ali Baba is a character from the folk tale ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves''.
Ali Baba or Alibaba may also refer to:
Films
* Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1902 film), ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' (1902 film), a F ...
pre-IPO before it was too acquired in 2011 for US$52 million.
In 2008, Kobo co-founded PIR Equities with childhood friend Joseph Aaron Horowitz, an employee owned
private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...
. According to Globes, the firm raised US$980 million that year to pursue
value based investments within the
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
, technology and real estate industries.
In 2014, Camden Market Holdings the proprietor of landmark properties such as the Camden Market, Stables Market and Camden Lock Developments in Camden, London was acquired for $680 million by billionaire businessman
Teddy Sagi
Teddy Sagi ( he, טדי שגיא; born 1971) is an Israeli billionaire businessman based in London and Cyprus. Sagi is the founder of the gambling software company Playtech and owner of London's Camden Market. His personal wealth is estimated at ...
of
Playtech
Playtech plc is a gambling software development company founded in 1999. The company provides software for online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo games, online sports betting, scratch games, mobile gaming, live dealer games and fixed-o ...
. Kobo invested in Camden Market Holdings via PIR Equites and was a member of the board of directors alongside
Bebo Kobo
Zari David "Bebo" Kovo (a.k.a. Kobo; born February 1951) is an Israeli-Bulgarian property developer, the co-founder of property company Camden Market Holdings & Developments (including Stanley Sidings and the Stables Market Property Group), with ...
,
Richard Caring
Richard Allan Caring (born 4 June 1948) is a British businessman. He initially built a business, International Clothing Designs, supplying Hong Kong-manufactured fashion to UK retailers. After surviving the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, he div ...
and Chelsfield Partners.
Also in 2014, Kobo sold
Pheed
Pheed was a mobile pay-per-view technology and social networking service founded by O.D. Kobo, Tony DeNiro, and Phil Haus. In March 2014, 18 months from launch, a subsidiary of América Móvil acquired the service for $40 million in cash and sto ...
- a mobile pay-per-view technology to
Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by the ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from hi ...
and
American Movil
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
for US$40 million.
In 2015, Kobo established S Group, with business partners
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian Russian oligarchs, oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club ...
and Gee Roberson, the former Chairman of Geffen Records.
In 2016, it was reported first in the
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
that two properties from their portfolio had been sold to a consortium of Chinese investors led by
Ding Lei
Ding Lei (; born 1 October 1971), also known as William Ding, is a Chinese billionaire businessman, and the founder and CEO of NetEase (163.com).
Ding made significant contributions to the development of computer networks in mainland China. In ...
for US$32 million. Kobo had invested $40 million in various technology projects in 2017 and in January 2018 it was reported to have been acquired and relocated to Hong Kong.
Kobo had led several failed attempts to purchase MTV Networks from National Amusements in 2008, as well as an attempt to purchase Golan Telecom in Israel in 2016, which was highly criticized by the press and caused a public backlash resulting in Kobo withdrawing his IPO on the
TASE
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE; ; colloquially known as The Bursa, ) is Israel's only public stock exchange and a public company that has been traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange since August 1, 2019. Legally, the exchange is regulated b ...
.
In August 2018, it was reported in the
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
that Kobo had led a $50 million investment in Bitcoin and Ethereum via PIR Equities. On February 5, 2019, PIR Equities completed a US$312 million capital raise for its third flagship fund.
The firm's prior funds had net internal rates of return (IRR) — a key benchmark for investment returns — ranging from 24% to 33%.
In March 2019, Kobo introduced Israel Infrastructure Partners (IIP), a private equity firm focused on infrastructure investments, with the launch of a $350 million debut fund, IIP I. In June 2019, the firm, after changing its name to Israel Investment Partners, announced that it had raised the limit of the debut fund to $500 million.
In November 2021,
Entrepreneur Magazine
''Entrepreneur'' is an American magazine and website that carries news stories about entrepreneurship, small business management, and business. The magazine was first published in 1977. It is published by ''Entrepreneur Media Inc''., headquartere ...
listed Kobo at number 47 on their ‘Top 50 Richest People in Crypto’ with an estimated net worth of $200 million.
Kobo continues to invest in digital assets, with investments in
Ethereum
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (Abbreviation: ETH; sign: Ξ) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capita ...
and various altcoins.
Wealth
According to the
Sunday Times Rich List
The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...
in 2019, Kobo's net worth is estimated to be £75 million. In November 2021,
Entrepreneur Magazine
''Entrepreneur'' is an American magazine and website that carries news stories about entrepreneurship, small business management, and business. The magazine was first published in 1977. It is published by ''Entrepreneur Media Inc''., headquartere ...
ranked Kobo amongst the world's top 50 richest in blockchain with an estimated net worth of $200 million.
Personal life
In 2015, Kobo married long-time girlfriend fashion photographer Etos Ovadia; they have two children.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobo, OD
Living people
1974 births
Hong Kong businesspeople