How China’s Zhang Lei, the billionaire Tencent and JD.com tech investor, went from selling instant noodles to buying a stake in Amazon

Chinese billionaire Zhang Lei’s Hillhouse Capital Group made a recent grab for shares in Amazon, shoring up a lucrative investment empire portfolio which already includes stakes in streaming service Tencent, e-commerce platform JD.com and Blue Moon

Zhang Lei, founder, chairman and CEO of Hillhouse Capital Management, appeared at the Asian Financial Forum 2017 Concurrent Workshop in Hong Kong. Photo: Chen Xiaomei

From railway offerings to primary offerings – Chinese billionaire Zhang Lei has come a long way.

Last month his Hillhouse Capital Group made a strategic grab of shares at Amazon.com – increasing the venture capital firm’s stake to 43,156 shares – an US$81.72 million investment in the American e-commerce giant which made Jeff Bezos the world’s richest man.
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