Stephen Christopher Liu is an American internet entrepreneur, media executive and philanthropist. He is the founder of

Privy Circle Privy Circle (formerly Privy.net) is a community of global influencers located throughout the Asia and Pacific regions. It was founded by businessman and entrepreneur Stephen Liu who also founded Asian Professional Exchange. Privy Circle produce ...

, a community of influencers and entrepreneurs, and M8, a matchmaking app. He is also the founder of the Asian Professional Exchange as well as the National Asian Breast Cancer Initiative.

Career

Liu is the CEO of Privy Groupe which owns Privy Circle, a luxury lifestyle brand, and M8, a dating app. Privy circle was previously Privy.net, an exclusive private social network and online/mobile platform for executives and influential figures in the US and Asia. Previously, he Liu founded and was president of Reelplay, a Forbes Top 200 B2B Company. It was one of the early

streaming video Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

-enabled B2B

digital marketplaces Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals ** Digital camera, which captures and stores digital ...

catering to the global

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and television distribution industry. At Reelplay, Liu raised nearly $6 million in venture capital from Silicon Valley and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

backers, including Softbank Capital and WaterView Advisors, run by

Frank Biondi Jr. Frank Joseph Biondi Jr. (January 9, 1945 – November 25, 2019) was an American businessman and entertainment executive, who held leadership roles at Viacom, Universal Pictures, and HBO. Early life and education Biondi was born in New York Ci ...

(a former

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

, Universal Studios and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

CEO). Liu founded the Asian Professional Exchange in 1993 in the wake of the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in S ...

. Though there were many organizations that catered to particular Asian ethnicities and their professions, Liu was interested in establishing a pan-Asian organization for young professionals that mentored its members and gave back to the community. Despite initial naysaying, the organization grew. "Above all, I wanted to make sure that the group was inclusive, so that a new person coming into town would feel welcomed," he told Asian Week. He served as the organization's founding president from 1993 to 1997, and led the organization from conception to one of the largest Asian Pacific American organizations in United States, with over 10,000 members. Liu remains active in the organization and serves as chairman of the board. In 2010, with

Teddy Zee Teddy Zee is a Chinese film producer/executive whose films he had produced and supervised have amassed over $2.6 billion in revenue. He served as Executive Vice President at Columbia Pictures, Senior Vice President at Paramount Pictures, Preside ...

Productions, Liu produced a series of public service announcement videos alongside Teddy Zee ('' Hitch'' / '' Pursuit of Happyness''), Adrian Zaw, and George Wang. John Cho, Sandra Oh, Kaba Modern Legacy, Justin Chon, David Choi, and many other celebrities were featured in the announcements, which helped to secure funding for the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF) through the Chase Community Giving contest. The charity was in the top 20 out of 100 competing charities, creating awareness for issues regarding sexual assault and domestic violence. His involvement in the entertainment industry also includes a credit as executive producer of the feature documentary film, ''Yours Truly, Miss Chinatown''. In addition, Liu co-founded The National Asian Breast Cancer Initiative (NABCI). It is a pilot, not-for-profit initiative headed by the Privy Groupe, that aims to address the unique cultural, linguistic and biological challenges that Asian women face related to breast cancer; Liu's mother is a breast cancer survivor. The NABCI is fiscally managed by the Asian Pacific Community Fund, and endorsed by the Asian and Pacific Islander National Cancer Survivors Network, which is part of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum. The initiative was formed to address the cultural, linguistic and genetic challenges that Asian women face related to breast cancer.

Honors and public recognition

His varied accomplishments earned Liu the honor of "Icon of Inspiration" by Martell/APEX in 2014, as well as "Local Hero" by

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV ...

and UnionBank in 2009 and an "Emerging Leader" by the Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF) in 2008. He was also recognized by the Boy Scouts of America as a "Distinguished Citizen" and Goldsea as one of the "Top 40 Young Asian American Professionals". In addition, Liu is an active commentator on luxury marketing to Asian Americans and the media. He has been invited to speak at events such as, the Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF) and the Internet Dating & Dating Industry Conference. He's also been recognized by the Asian Pacific American Studies School at Loyola Marymount University.

References

External links

Personal websiteOfficial website of the Asian Pacific ExchangeOfficial website of Privy.netOfficial website of M8IMDB link for ''Yours Truly, Miss Chinatown''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Stephen American computer businesspeople American film producers American media executives American people of Chinese descent American technology chief executives Asian-American culture University of Southern California alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)