Zhang Lei (), CFA is a Chinese billionaire businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Hillhouse Hillhouse may refer to: People * Alex Hillhouse (1907–1983), Australian athlete who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics *Art Hillhouse (1916–1980), American professional basketball player * Christa Hillhouse of "4 Non Blondes", an American ro ...

, a private equity firm.

Early life

Zhang was born in 1972 in

Zhumadian Zhumadian (; postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of An ...

, a city in

Henan province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

, in

Central China Central China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that includes the provinces of Henan, Hubei and Hunan. Jiangxi is sometimes also regarded to be part of this region. Central China is now officially part of South Central ...

. When Zhang was a teenager, he sold magazines, noodles, and water to people at train stations.

Education and early career

Zhang received a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

Renmin University The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...

of China, where he received his

B.A Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

. in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in 1994. In 2002, he received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

. Zhang translated David Swensen's book, ''Pioneering Portfolio Management, An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment'' (2000), into Chinese while in school and created new Mandarin words for "endowment" and "fiduciary." During his studies, Zhang also worked at the Yale University Endowment. He was an investment analyst for a global emerging markets fund that covered South Africa, Southeast Asia and China. After this, he was the chief representative to China for the New York Stock Exchange and he established their Hong Kong and Beijing offices.

Hillhouse Capital

Zhang founded Hillhouse Capital in 2005. Hillhouse manages about US $50 billion of assets as of September 2018. Hillhouse is a long-term fundamental equity investor. It invests globally, with a particular focus on China and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Hillhouse focuses on the consumer, TMT, industrials and healthcare sectors.

Executive positions

Zhang has served on or currently sits on the

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of: JD (formerly 360buy),

Qunar Qunar.com is a Chinese online travel agency headquartered in Beijing. Qunar () means "Where to go" in Chinese. History The website was founded in May 2005. In 2011, Baidu acquired a majority interest in the company for $306 million. In Novemb ...

(China's largest online travel vertical), Global Mediacom (Indonesia's largest media / TV / pay TV conglomerate), and Blue Moon (a Chinese household care company). Zhang holds roles at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...

and he is a Governing Board Member of the China-United States Exchange Foundation, a non-profit organization established with the purpose of further improving communications and enhancing understanding between the peoples of China and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He is a founding board member of the United World College (UWC) of Southeast Asia Foundation and he established the Gaoli Academy at Renmin University with the goal of expanding the role of liberal arts education in Chinese universities. Zhang is also Vice Chairman and Trustee of the Board at Renmin University of China. He is a Trustee of the Yale-NUS College and the Chair of the Yale Asia Development Council. He is also a member of the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council. In June 2016 the governing board of Yale University, Yale Corporation, appointed Lei Zhang as a successor trustee.

Social responsibility

Zhang Lei donated US$8.88 million to the

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate business school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Administration (MBA), MBA for Executives ...

, the largest alumni donation in the history of the school. He also established Gaoli Academy () by donating money together with support from Renmin University. In 2010, Zhang Lei donated $1.4 million to his alma mater Renmin University of China. In 2017, he donated another $43 million for an education fund for the school and gave the commencement speech to the graduating class of 2017. Zhang started the Hillhouse Academy in association with Renmin University to prepare students in business for the technological revolution. Zhang funded a low-budget docudrama called Kang Rinpoche (Paths of the Soul) in 2017. Zhang Lei is involved and holds roles with the

BN Vocational School BN Vocational School is a private, tuition-free vocational school in Beijing, China. The school was established in September 2005. It was founded by Yao Li. BN Vocational is the first tuition-free, not-for-profit, vocational secondary school in C ...

(BNVS) in China. BNVS started in 2005 as the first

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

charitable

vocational school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

level in China that does not require

fees A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead (business), overhead, wages, costs, and Profit (accounting), markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Repu ...

. There are BNVS campuses in 1 foreign country:

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and the 9 following cities:

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

Lijiang Lijiang (), also known as Likiang, is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of and had a population of 1,253,878 at the 2020 census whom 288,787 lived in the built-up area (metro) made of Gucheng ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, li ...

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...

Yinchuan Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...

and

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...

References

External links

张磊：给予才是最大的快乐

* ttp://www.gaoliacademy.com/index.php/site/viewText?id=2 高礼研究院
张磊对话史蒂芬•罗奇：中国进入转折点
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Lei 1972 births 20th-century Chinese businesspeople 21st-century Chinese businesspeople Businesspeople from Henan Chinese company founders Chinese financial analysts Chinese investors Chinese philanthropists Chinese venture capitalists Living people People from Zhumadian Renmin University of China alumni Yale School of Management alumni CFA charterholders Chief investment officers Chinese billionaires Chinese chairpersons of corporations