T'01
Jie Lian
President, Perfect World; Former Partner, Primavera Capital Group
Our strength is in the accumulated wisdom of the partners and the entire team.
There are tens of thousands of private equity funds in China, from the miniscule to the massive and multinational. Some are state-owned and run. Others are global funds with specialized Chinese teams. And then there are the China-based funds started by American-educated veterans of investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, whose holdings are valued in the billions. Jie Lian T’01 runs one of those.
Lian’s first job, after going to college in China, was as a management trainee at Shell Oil Company, which recruited just six graduates from Chinese schools. He spent three years in a job-rotation program there before heading to Tuck—which he never visited in-person and ended up attending, he says, “thanks to fate” and a memorable interview, in China, with Sally Jaeger, the admissions director for Tuck at the time. “Without Tuck, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” says Lian, who met his wife during his summer internship.
Lian’s first post-business school job was at an investment banking company. In his case, it was Goldman Sachs—first in New York, then in Hong Kong—in the early 2000s. “I was very lucky to be involved in several very big, landmark transactions while at Goldman,” he says, “including some of the largest internet companies, retail and consumer companies, and financial institutions in China. I was fortunate to get promoted to managing director in 2007. But after a few years, I began considering my options.”
Instead of heading to another global private equity firm, after almost nine years with the firm, Lian joined Fred Hu, his close friend at Goldman and a renowned economist, along with three other Goldman vets, and started Primavera Capital Group.
Primavera is an Italian word that means spring, which is both Lian’s favorite season and a nice symbol for the company’s work. “There’s an idiom in China,” he says, “that means ‘you plant in spring and harvest in fall.’ So our firm’s Chinese name took from the first part: you plant in spring. We thought Primavera is a kind of nice word matching the Chinese name.”
Spring, for the five founding partners and their company, came quickly. Starting with a $1 billion fund, Primavera now manages almost $5 billion, an admittedly large number that Lian mentions with characteristic modesty. They are a China-based global investment firm focusing on China’s overall domestic consumption derived from urbanization: retail consumers, internet and technology, health care, and financial services. Six years after Primavera arrived on the venture capital scene, the company now has more than $4 billion under management.
“We run our firm,” Lian, who is now 42 years old and living with his family in Hong Kong, says, “similar to the old Goldman merchant banking model. Our strength is in the accumulated wisdom of the partners and the entire team of more than 30 professionals who have an outstanding track record. The team combines global market experience, deep industry knowledge, and a unique network of relationships with policy-makers and regulators, as well as leading CEOs and entrepreneurs in the region and globally.
Continue Reading
Related Stories
DOING WELL BY DOING GOOD: Meet Nespresso CFO Hilary Halper T’07
Hilary Halper T’07, CFO of Nespresso, reflects on the company’s sustainability focus and the increasingly strategic role that CFOs play in business today.
Read MoreThe People-First Manager
Leading with integrity and a keen focus on the human side of banking, Interbank CEO Luis Felipe Castellanos T’98 is helping build a better future for Perú’s middle class.
Read MoreThe Resilient Founder: Sarah Ketterer T’87, CEO of Causeway Capital
As Sarah Ketterer T’87, CEO of Causeway Capital Management, will attest, weathering the inevitable storms that arise in global financial markets requires ample grit, teamwork, and humility.
Read MoreA Winning Story: Meet Crunchyroll CFO Travis Page T’10
As the CFO of Crunchyroll, a specialty streaming service that boasts 120 million users, Travis Page T’10 is leveraging his varied experience in the media and entertainment space to bring the Japanese art form to a wider audience.
Read MoreClosing the Financing Gap for Local Businesses: Meet Honeycomb Cofounder George Cook T’17
Honeycomb Credit works specifically with small businesses and allows consumers, nonprofits, and other organizations to loan small amounts of cash to a particular venture.
Read MoreAt BCG, A Small-Team Approach: Meet Cristina Henrik T’08
A conversation with Cristina Henrik T’08, managing director and partner at the Boston Consulting Group, on how private equity has evolved and what has stuck with her since her Tuck days.
Read MoreTuck Relationships Run Deep at .406 Ventures
Classmates and spouses So-June Min T’95 and Liam Donohue T’95 reflect on their winding path as co-founders of the Boston-based venture capital firm .406 Ventures.
Read MoreLeading with Purpose: Bank of America CFO Alastair Borthwick T’93
Alastair Borthwick T’93, CFO at Bank of America, reflects on his Tuck experience and the people-first approach that drives his success as a financial leader.
Read MoreWhy We Need More Women Entrepreneurs—And Investors
A conversation with venture capitalist Elizabeth Davis T’20, an investor with the Anthemis Group’s Female Innovators Lab.
Read MoreMeet Jose Minaya T’00
A commitment to building diverse, inclusive, and equitable structures across organizations is personal for Jose Minaya T’00, who was named CEO of Nuveen in 2020.
Read MoreMeet Tuck Alumnus Richard Noyes of Bartlett Associates
Meet Tuck Alumnus Richard Noyes of Bartlett Associates
Read MoreNoreen Doyle
Noreen Doyle T’74, chair of the Newmont Mining Corporation, was the first woman to chair the British Banker’s Association in its 96-year history.
Read MorePreserving Culture Through Banking: Meet Dawson Her Many Horses T’10
Dawson Her Many Horses T’10, SVP & Native American business leader at Wells Fargo, helps Native American tribes protect their way of life.
Read MoreTuck Alumnus Named Head of Goldman Sachs’ Global Securities
At Goldman Sachs’ Global Securities Division, Tuck Alumnus Jim Esposito orchestrates a global operation managing risk for asset managers, pension funds, insurance companies, hedge funds, corporations, and governments.
Read MoreBringing Order to the Chaos
Solving complex problems is what's kept Diego Ferro T'93 in finance for 25 years. Here's what he's learned.
Read MoreRick Cardenas
T’98 Rick Cardenas’ first job was bussing tables at a Red Lobster. Fast forward 30 years and he’s now CEO of Darden Restaurants which, until 2014, owned Red Lobster.
Read MoreLindsey Drake
Fun Finance: Lindsey Drake T’11 talks about her role as a senior finance manager at Amazon Books.
Read MoreJames “Jim” Lindstrom
Jim Lindstrom T’01 has a career of both investment and senior operational roles—a unique perspective to lead a multinational corporation in today’s dynamic environment.
Read MoreDeb Kemper
As managing director of the Boston Forum of Golden Seeds, a national network of angel investors funding early-stage companies led by women, Deb Kemper T'95 lives by the motto: be the change you want to see in the world.
Read MoreKathryn Baker
Kathryn Baker T'93 is a true expert on boards of directors. She has served on more than 20 of them over the last 16 years, ranging from oil and gas companies to Norway’s Central Bank to Tuck’s own European Advisory Board.
Read MoreOn Networking
Not many people in ball bearing sales finish their careers in venture capital. For Mike Carusi T’93, now one of the most successful health care investors in Silicon Valley, that unlikely journey started with two eye-opening years at Tuck.
Read MoreCollette Chilton
Williams College chief investment officer Collette Chilton T’86 is helping deliver big returns for the Little Ivy.
Read MoreRoger McNamee
Investor. Philanthropist. Entrepreneur. Roger McNamee T’82 is all of these and more in a career that has taken him to the top of the tech world.
Read MoreAlain Karaoglan
Alain Karaoglan T’87 never could have predicted he would one day be chief operating officer of Voya Financial, a top-tier retirement plan provider with more than $500 billion in assets under management and administration.
Read MoreDebbie Atuk
Navigating the present while honoring the past is a challenge for many Native people. Debbie Atuk T’04 has found a way to do both.
Read MoreChristopher Fox
After working in security sales for Goldman Sachs, Christopher Fox T'81 was drawn back to the public sector because he wanted to serve his community and for the intellectual challenge.
Read MoreVicki Craver
At Tuck, Vicki Craver T'97 discovered a latent interest in financial strategy. Now, after a successful career at Goldman Sachs and raising a family, she applies her financial accumen to vetting nonprofit projects.
Read MoreScott Frantz
Following five years in the mergers and acquisitions industry, Scott Frantz T'86 joined a few close friends in putting together a private equity and venture capital business.
Read MoreDaniel Rowe
Sword, Rowe & Company CEO Daniel Rowe T’09 is blending his love of music into a successful career with the boutique merchant bank.
Read MoreFrancis Barel
In much of the Middle East and North Africa, cash is still king. PayPal’s Francis Barel T’05 wants to change that, and open people’s lives to the world along the way.
Read MoreBlair LaCorte
One of Blair LaCorte T’90’s great skills as a leader is not only to guide a company from infancy to success, but to know when to set it—and himself—free.
Read MoreChristopher Williams
Christopher Williams T'84 harnessed his architectural and business skills to grow the Williams Capital Group into one of the most successful mid-sized investment banks in the world.
Read More