Monday 18 January 2010

Fund chief’s US$9m gift to Yale prompts torrent of net abuse

A Chinese entrepreneur who made a record donation of almost US$9 million to Yale University has caused a stir among mainland internet users after he attributed his success to postgraduate studies at the Ivy League school.

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Fund chief’s US$9m gift to Yale prompts torrent of net abuse

Will Clem in Shanghai
11 January 2010

A Chinese entrepreneur who made a record donation of almost US$9 million to Yale University has caused a stir among mainland internet users after he attributed his success to postgraduate studies at the Ivy League school.

Zhang Lei, the founder and managing partner of Beijing-based Hillhouse Capital Management, last week gave the auspicious figure of US$8,888,888, the largest amount the university’s management school has ever received from a “young” alumnus.

Zhang, who graduated from the school with a master’s degree in business administration and a master’s in international relations in 2002, said he decided to make the donation because Yale’s educational system had “changed his life”.

But this comment - and his decision to give money to a foreign university - appears to have ruffled feathers back home, prompting a flurry of angry posts on the internet.

By yesterday evening more than 1,500 anonymous messages had been posted on huanqiu.com, which first broke the story on the mainland, and the vast majority were aggressively worded and even abusive.

“This bird-student will have a horrible death!” wrote one, using a slang term for students who study overseas. Others called Zhang a dog, a traitor or suggested he must have mental problems.

Many expressed disgust that Zhang - who studied at Renmin University in Beijing before going overseas - did not appear to value his school and undergraduate education. “You spent more than 10 years studying in Chinese universities; if it weren’t for the Chinese higher educational system, you wouldn’t be anything at all,” wrote one poster.

Others appeared to consider the prospect of Chinese money going overseas as some sort of personal affront. “You made this money in China after you graduated, so any donations should go back to China,” wrote one.

Though the online comments are only a straw poll of the most opinionated readers, the strength of the reaction was unmistakable.

Even so, a minority did speak out in support of Zhang’s decision. “Well donated! If you donated that money [in China], then more than half would fall into the wallets of corrupt officials,” wrote one.

Others also commented that it was a sorry indictment of the mainland educational system when a celebrated “prize student” like Zhang - who ranked first out of 100,000 students in his provincial university entrance exam - thought only his time at Yale had contributed to his success in life.

Zhang set up his company - which is named after Hillhouse Avenue, the main street running through the Yale management school’s campus - in 2005 using an endowment from the management school.

He began managing a fund of US$30 million, but that pot has since swollen to US$2.5 billion.

Zhang is also a member of the Yale management school’s board of advisers and its board of China advisers.

In a statement posted on its website, Yale said the donation would be used primarily to help build a new campus for the management school but “a portion of the gift” would also be set aside for scholarships and “a variety of China-related activities”.

Speaking at an event in Beijing last Monday, the president of Yale, Richard Levin, said the donation was a “truly extraordinary gift” that reflected Zhang’s “deep commitment to Yale”.