Richard Ong Tiong Sin(born 1965) is a Malaysian businessman and investor.[2]He is the founder, chairman, and CEO ofRRJ Capital,one of the largestprivate equity fundsbased in Asia.[3][4]Richard was also a founder and CEO ofHopu Investment Management,a Beijing-based private equity fund.[5][6]
| Richard Ong | |||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | Vương trung tín[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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Career
editEarly career
editOng started his finance career atChase Manhattan Bank,where he worked for three years as a mergers banker; he also spent a year atPrudential Bache International.[7]
Goldman Sachs
editOng joinedGoldman Sachsin 1993 and became a partner of the firm seven years later.[3]He was later named to the position of co-president of Goldman's Singapore office.[7]
In 2006, Ong was promoted to the position of co-head of Asia investment banking, replacingBill Wicker,who moved to New York.[3]GS moved Ong from Singapore to Beijing with the intention that he would also become CEO of their Beijing joint venture Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities, Co.[7]However, Ong's weak knowledge ofwritten Chinese[8]led him to fail a language ability examination required to take up his new position.[9]TheChina Securities Regulatory Commission(CSRC) had required since 2004 that CEOs, deputy CEOs, and heads of supervisory boards at locally incorporated securities firms all pass the examination; however many CEOs and deputy CEOs of other securities companies were not able to pass the CSRC examination as well, but were given waivers.[9]Goldman elevated the joint venture's deputy CEOZha Xiangyangto the CEO post in Ong's place.[8]
One industry observer criticised the decision by CSRC to deny Ong his new position as "short sighted and xenophobic", also noting that it served as a wake-up call tooverseas Chinesethat shared ethnicity was not a guarantee of success in themainland Chinamarket.[10]AChina Economic Revieweditorial speculated that the language proficiency issue was merely a pretext, and that the true reason that CSRC denied Goldman permission to name Ong to his new position was due to hisfamily ties toSingaporeansovereign wealth fundTemasek Holdingsand his own role in the money-losing sale of former Thai prime ministerThaksin Shinawatra'sShin Corporationto Temasek.[9]
Hopu Investment Management
editIn January 2008, Ong resigned from his position at GS, ending a fifteen-year tenure there; his departure was seen as a major blow to the firm.[11]He stated that he planned to return to Malaysia to spend time with his family and work in his family business.[3]It soon emerged that he would be joining fellow former GS executiveFang FengleiatHopu Investment Management,a new China private equity fund established by Fang. Goldman planned to invest roughlyUS$300 million of their own money in the new fund, while Temasek would provide another US$1 billion. The total size of the fund was planned at US$2 billion; interest from potential investors far exceeded that amount, according to unnamed sources.[12]In 2010 the fund began winding down when it announced that Hopu Investment Management would not be raising a second fund.[13]
RRJ Capital
editRRJ Capital, aprivate equityfirm based inHong KongandSingapore,was founded in March 2011 by Ong.[14][15]
Personal life
editOng is ofChinesedescent and was born in Malaysia.[8]He received a bachelor's degree fromCornell Universityin 1986 and then an MBA from theUniversity of Chicagoin 1989. His brotherCharles Ongwas the chief strategist of Singaporean sovereign wealth fundTemasek Holdings[3]and is currently co-CEO and co-chairman ofRRJ Capital.
References
edit- ^"Hậu phác thôn kiến hành cổ phân chấn thiên hạ /Hopu 'swallows' CCB shares in shocking move",Ming Pao Finance,14 May 2009,retrieved15 October2009
- ^"AFG shares climb with emergence of shareholder having close ties with Temasek".The Edge Markets.13 April 2016.Retrieved22 June2021.
- ^abcdeChan, Cathy (30 January 2008),"Goldman's Ong to Step Down as Asia Banking Co-Head",Bloomberg.com,retrieved20 February2009
- ^Lau, Josephine (30 April 2008),"Goldman's Fang Makes First Private Equity Investment",Bloomberg.com,retrieved20 February2009
- ^"RRJ Capital plans to raise record $4bn for new Asia fund".www.ft.com.Retrieved22 June2021.
- ^"Richard Ong".www.bloomberg.com.Retrieved22 June2021.
- ^abcAustin, Bill (11 October 2006),"Goldman picks chief for China bank unit",International Herald Tribune,retrieved20 February2009
- ^abcChan, Cathy (12 July 2007),"Goldman's Ong Misses China CEO Job on Language Hitch",Bloomberg.com,retrieved20 February2009
- ^abcWong, Joon-Ian (24 July 2007),"The tangled web of the brothers Ong, Goldman, Temasek, Shin Corp, and Beijing",China Economic Review,archived fromthe originalon 15 May 2008,retrieved20 February2009
- ^Anderlini, Jamil (12 July 2007),"Goldman executive hits China barrier",Financial Times,retrieved20 February2009
- ^Douglas, Stewart (1 February 2008),"Goldman Loses Further Executive",Banking Times,archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2008,retrieved20 January2009
- ^Carew, Rick (4 February 2008),"New private equity fund targets deals in China",Wall Street Journal,retrieved20 February2009
- ^"Hopu fund to wind itself down".www.ft.com.Retrieved22 June2021.
- ^Carew, Rick (1 October 2015)."RRJ Capital Raises $4.5 Billion in Largest Asian Private-Equity Firm Fundraising".Wall Street Journal.ISSN0099-9660.Retrieved17 March2021.
- ^"Lead Story: New administration piques RRJ Capital's interest in Malaysia".The Edge Markets.22 April 2019.