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Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 1090 Karl Scheufele III|# 1092 Leonid Radvinsky ➡

# 1091 Zhang Lei 

$3.05B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024

# 1091 Zhang Lei 

$3.05B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
OccupationFounder and Chair, Hillhouse Investment
Source of WealthInvestments
Age51
ResidenceHong Kong, Hong Kong
Marital StatusMarried
Children2
EducationBA/Economics, Renmin University of China; MBA, The Yale School of Management; MA, Yale University
Age-Adjusted Net Worth$5.61B
Zhang Lei
Zhang Lei
China
Net worth: $3.05B

Self-Made Score 

Wealth History

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Biography

Overview

Zhang Lei is a prominent investor and philanthropist, best known as the founder and chairman of Hillhouse Investment, the largest private equity firm in Asia as of October 2021.
He amassed his wealth through strategic investments, particularly focusing on Asia, and managing assets for institutional clients globally.

Early Life and Education

Born in 1972 and received a scholarship to Renmin University of China, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1994.
Took a class taught by David F. Swensen, Yale's Chief Investment Officer, in 1999, leading to an internship at the Yale Endowment.
Translated Swensen's book into Chinese while studying at Yale, solidifying his investment philosophy.
Obtained an MBA and MA in international relations from Yale University in 2002.
Interned at the Yale University Endowment during his studies.
Certified as a chartered financial analyst (CFA).

Career

Founded Hillhouse Investment in 2005 with $20 million of seed capital from Yale University.
Manages about US$50 billion of assets as of September 2018, with notable investors like Yale, Stanford, and CPPIB.
Played a key role in closing the Real Assets Opportunities Fund (RAOF) with over $2 billion in support from CPPIB.
Serves on the boards of various educational institutions including Renmin University of China and Yale-NUS College.
Appointed as a successor trustee of Yale Corporation in June 2016.
Named to the board of directors of FCLTGlobal and serves on the advisory board for the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in 2020.

Philanthropy

Donated US$8.88 million to the Yale School of Management, marking the largest alumni donation in the school's history.
Established Gaoli Academy and donated to Renmin University of China, totaling $1.4 million in 2010 and $43 million in 2017.
Started Hillhouse Academy to prepare students for the technological revolution.
Involved with the BN Vocational School (BNVS) in China.
Funded the production of a low-budget docudrama called Kang Rinpoche (Paths of the Soul) in 2017.

Hillhouse Investment

Overview
Founded by Lei Zhang in 2005 with initial seed capital from Yale University endowment.
Manages assets across East Asia, Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe.
Assets under management were US$73.3 billion as of July 2021.
Raised US$18 billion for its fifth flagship private equity fund in October 2021, setting a record in Asia.
Manages capital for various institutional clients including university endowments, foundations, and pension funds.
Noted for its long-term fundamental research-driven equity investment strategy.

History
Participated in more private equity acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific region than any other firm by 2017, totaling $26 billion.
Spun off its venture capital unit into an independent fund called GL Ventures in 2020.
Started its first real estate-focused fund, the Hillhouse Real Asset Opportunities Fund (RAOF), in 2022 with over $2 billion in investment.
Achieved rapid growth with up to 52% annualized returns from inception until 2012 and continued strong performance.
Raised $18 billion for new funds in May 2021, surpassing expectations.
Completed fundraising for its fifth flagship private equity investment fund at US$18 billion in August 2021, breaking records.

How long would it take you to become as rich as Zhang Lei?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 44.11% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach Zhang Lei's net worth of $3.05B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 52.22% compared to 16.62% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

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Zhang Lei is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For Zhang Lei, Investments is the primary source. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

Source: Grizzly Bulls reporting

Methodology: Grizzly Bulls' Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's billionaires and richest people. Grizzly Bulls strives to provide the most accurate net worth calculations available. We pull data from public equity markets, SEC filings, public real estate records, and other reputable sources.

The index is dynamic and updates daily at the close of U.S. stock market trading based on changes in the markets, economy, and updates to Grizzly Bulls' proprietary algorithm of personal wealth calculation. Stakes in public companies are tracked daily based on the relevant closing prices of the underlying securities. Additionally, stakes in private companies, cash, real estate, and other less easily valued assets are updated periodically through careful analysis of insider transactions, comparable public company sales / EBITDA multiples, etc.

Edited by: Lee Bailey