George Raymond Zage, III (born January 20, 1970)[1] is a Singapore-based businessman and former hedge fund manager from Schaumburg, Illinois, USA.[2]

Career

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After 8-years at Goldman Sachs, Zage rose to prominence at Farallon Capital Management, where he founded the hedge fund's Asian business.[3]

At Farallon, Zage spearheaded large private investments in Asian corporates in a way that differed from Farallon's historical investment approach. These investments included the purchase of a controlling stake in Bank Central Asia after the Asian Financial Crisis, an investment in Aston Resources, which eventually listed and merged with Whitehaven Coal and Go-Jek, where he is on the board.[4]

These investments required Farallon to establish new, closed-end investment vehicles, including Farallon Asian Special Situations I, II and III,[5] a marked departure from the liquid hedge fund that Farallon had traditionally managed.

After leaving Farallon to found Tiga Investments, Zage was involved in a restructuring of Lippo Karawaci, where he joined the board.[6]

In 2020, Zage was a lead investor in the over $600 million acquisition of Grindr from Beijing Kunlun Tech Co.[7] This transaction was a result of the decision by CFIUS to compel the owner of Grindr, a Shenzhen-listed Chinese company, to sell the company to US interests.[8]

Zage is an independent director of Toshiba,[9] and has also made personal investments in Whistler, BC.[10]

Personal life

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Zage has been a co-opted member of the Investment Committee of the National University of Singapore and is the chair of the board of the foundation of the Singapore American School.[11] He has also been active in Room to Read,[10][12] and is active in numerous other philanthropic activities.

References

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  1. ^ "Directors and Executives". Toshiba. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  2. ^ Silvinski, Krystyna (January 14, 2001). "Dentist George Zage Jr. of Schaumburg". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  3. ^ Thompson, Sarah; Macdonald, Anthony (April 28, 2019). "Tribeca recruits ex-Farallon Capital manager for Asia credit". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
    - Thompson, Sarah; Macdonald, Anthony; Boyd, Tim (November 11, 2019). "Farallon escrow puts target on Whitehaven Coal stake". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  4. ^ Mallaby, Sebastian (2010). More Money than God. A & C Black. p. 277.
    - Manning, Paddy (2013). Boganaire. Black Inc.
    - Sender, Henny (April 24, 2019). "Go-Jek and Grab's competing visions play out". The Financial Times. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  5. ^ "Farallon closes special situations fund focused on Asia And Latin America at USD1.12bn". Hedgeweek. November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  6. ^ Kot, Jan (March 13, 2019). "Riady Family Leads $1B Rights Issue for Lippo Development Unit after Bribery Scandal". Mingtiandi. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  7. ^ Stech Ferek, Katy (May 29, 2020). "U.S. Approves Sale of Dating App Whose Owners Were Probed by National Security Officials". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
    - Hale, Kori (March 26, 2020). "Grindr's Chinese Owner Sells Gay Dating App Over U.S. Privacy Concerns For $600 Million". Forbes. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  8. ^ Bauerle Danzman, Sarah; Gertz, Geoffrey (April 3, 2019). "Why is the U.S. forcing a Chinese company to sell the gay dating app Grindr?". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "Lippo Karawaci secures US$1b in funding, names new CEO and CFO". Straits Times. March 12, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Wood, John (2013). Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy. Penguin.
  11. ^ Passion Forward: National University of Singapore Annual Report 2019 (PDF) (Report). National University of Singapore. 2019. p. 24. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
    - "SAS Foundation Board Members". Singapore American School. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  12. ^ Depuis, Branden (February 7, 2018). "The changing face of Creekside". Pique Newsmagazine. Retrieved November 13, 2019.