Tencent and Zoom investor Hillhouse reloads after building US$60 billion Asia juggernaut
- Hillhouse Capital Management founder Zhang Lei is said to be seeking US$13 billion in fresh funding
- The new investment would enable the company to prepare for opportunities that are expected to emerge from the coronavirus-battered economy
Just before the coronavirus-induced US lockdowns began in March, some of the world’s investing elite gathered at an invite-only event in Silicon Valley.
Representatives for super-rich families and endowments crowded into Vina Enoteca, an Italian restaurant right by the Stanford University campus. They were there to hear from Zhang Lei, the charismatic founder of Hillhouse Capital Management and from some of his top investments, including Zoom Video Communications founder and chief executive Eric Yuan.
In a packed room – before social distancing became the norm – Zhang and Yuan discussed how technology can change work-life balance. Neither could have predicted how much Covid-19 would change Zoom, or the world. One attendee said the evening was typical of his interactions with Hillhouse, with the rustic-chic eatery decked out in temporary drapes to maximise privacy: a mix of showmanship and exclusivity.
Less than two decades after Zhang started Hillhouse with US$20 million from Yale University’s endowment, the 48-year-old has become an object of fascination to those in finance yet remains an enigma. The firm has mushroomed from a boutique hedge fund into a US$60 billion behemoth that has made prescient bets on stocks, private equity and venture capital.
For Yale, it is among their most profitable investments. David Swensen, chief investment officer for the university’s endowment, said Hillhouse has generated US$2.4 billion of gains for the school.
Zhang is worth at least US$5 billion, making him one of the world’s richest financiers, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and the firm is in no mood to retreat amid the pandemic.