Tiantian Kullander (1992-2022), also known as TT, was a Swedish-Chinese entrepreneur and investor. He was the co-founder o
Amber Group
a unicorn digital asset services company. He served on many boards of successful companies and was well known as a pioneer in the crypto De-Fi industry.

Early life and education

Tiantian Kullander was born on 14 July 1992 in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, the son of Swedish-Chinese

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Fang Fang Kullander Fang Fang Kullander, ''née'' Fang Fang, (14 November 1962 – 19 May 2010) was a Swedish-Chinese ichthyologist. Early life Fang Fang was born on 14 November 1962 in Beijing, her parents were Fang Zongxian and Hang Mingxhien, both geologists. Fa ...

from her first marriage in China. Tiantian moved to Stockholm Sweden with his family in 1994, where he attended

Enskilda Gymnasiet Enskilda Gymnasiet (EG) is an independent secondary school from the 10th-12th grade and school from the 7th-9th grade, founded in 1913. Enskilda Gymnasiet is located at {{ill, Tegnérlunden 5, sv near Tegnérlunden, in central Stockholm, Sweden. ...

in Stockholm. Following high school, Tiantian attended

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

in the United Kingdom 2010–2013, where he studied Finance and graduated with a first-class honors degree. During his time at Durham, he was President of the Durham University Finance Society and was awarded the Academic Achievement Award and the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship for Academic Excellence.

Career

Tiantian started his career in 2013 as a credit trader in the Fixed Income division of

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

, Hong Kong. Prior to this, he completed internships in the London offices of

Jefferies Jefferies is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alan Jefferies (born 1957), Australian writer * Annalee Jefferies (born 1954), American actress * Chris Jefferies (born 1980), American basketball player * Cindy Jefferies, Englis ...

and

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Tiantian founded Amber Group along with his co-founders in 2018. Amber Group is a leader in digital asset trading, products, and infrastructure. The company works with a variety of companies including token issuers, banks and fintech firms, as well as sports teams, game developers, brands, and creators. At the time of his passing, the company was valued at US$ 3 billion. TT was a respected thought leader and widely recognized as a pioneer for the crypto industry. His depth of knowledge, his willingness to collaborate and his desire to always help others benefited countless start-ups and individuals. His insights and creativity inspired many projects, people and communities. Besides co-founding Amber and building it into a multi-billion-dollar fintech unicorn, TT sat on the Board of

Fnatic Fnatic (pronounced "fanatic"; also stylised as fnatic or FNATIC) is a professional esports organisation headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Founded on 23 July 2004, it has players from around the world competing in several games. Fnatic' ...

(one of the world's most successful e-sports organizations) and founde
KeeperDAO
(the first on-chain liquidity underwriter) before giving it back to its community. In 2019, at age 27, Tiantian was listed in the

Forbes 30 under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''Forbes'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sect ...

for his professional achievements.

Personal life

Tiantian married Monica Qian in April 2021 in Hong Kong. They have one son together. On 23 November 2022, TT passed away unexpectedly during sleep. Outside of the finance industry, TT had many interests and was devoted to them. A keen sportsman, he was a ski instructor during his school holidays as a teenager and was captain of his college basketball team during his time at Durham University (2010 – 2012). He was also enthusiastic about powerlifting, music production, chess, scuba diving, and had travelled to over 20 countries with his wife. Tiantian's parents Sven and Fang discovered Pethia Tiantian in 2005, the fish was named after Tiantian, it inhabits streams at the foot of the Himalayas, "that is, somewhat close to heaven".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kullander, Tiantian 1992 births 2022 deaths Swedish businesspeople Swedish people of Chinese descent People from Beijing Alumni of Durham University