Jean Eric Salata (; born 22 December 1965) is a Chilean businessman based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. He is the founder of

Baring Private Equity Asia Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) was an Asian investment firm headquartered in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1997 as an affiliate of Barings Bank before becoming an independent firm in 2000. In 2022, it was acquired by EQT AB to act as its Asia ...

(BPEA), one of the largest

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

s in Asia. In February 2023,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

put his net worth at US$5.9 billion making him the second richest person in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and the 15th richest person in Hong Kong.

Early life

Salata was born in Chile on 22 December 1965, to Orlando Salata and Hilda Rothleder. His family's roots trace back to Austria, Poland, and Germany, as his parents were emigrants who sought refuge from

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

in the 1930s. Salata and his family moved to

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

when he was five. He started investing in the stock market when he was 12 to 13. Salata graduated from

Cathedral Preparatory School Cathedral Preparatory School (often referred to simply as Prep) is a private, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory high school for girls and boys in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1921 by Archbishop John Mark Gannon a ...

in 1984. In 1988, Salata graduated magna cum laude with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Finance and Economics from the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

Career

After graduation, Salata worked for

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and nonprofit organizations. One of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three management co ...

initially in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and in 1989 moved to Hong Kong where he advised foreign companies on Mainland China entry strategies. In 1991, Salata turned down an offer to attend

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

and instead took a job at the investment arm of

AIG American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of 2023, AIG employed 25,200 people. The company operates through three core ...

. In 1997, Salata and two senior colleagues from AIG were tapped to lead a BPEA, the Asian Unit of Baring Private Equity Partners which was an affiliate of

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London. It was one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

. It would receive $300 million in

seed funding Seed money, also known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor puts capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' suggests ...

from

ING Group ING Group N.V. () is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, whol ...

. However, the two colleagues pulled out and ING downsized its commitment to $25 million due to the collapse of Barings Bank and the

Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide economic meltd ...

. However, despite the difficult circumstances, Salata recruited a team and deployed capital into

NetEase NetEase, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet technology company founded by Ding Lei in June 1997. It provides online services with content, community, communications, and commerce. The company develops and operates online PC and mobile games, adverti ...

and

Mphasis Mphasis Limited is an Indian multinational information technology service and consulting company based in Bengaluru. The company provides infrastructure technology and applications outsourcing services, as well as architecture guidance, appli ...

. These successful investments allowed BPEA to raise $300 million for its debut fund in 1999. In 2000, Salata and his team completed a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

of the firm making it independent. As the firm grew, Salata took a step back from investment duties and spent more time on management. In October 2022, Salata sold BPEA to EQT which formed BPEA EQT. His net worth doubled to $5.9 billion making him one of the richest people in Hong Kong.

Personal life

Salata is married to Melanie Pong who he met while studying at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. She studied French literature and has a master's degree in Art History. She is a Hong Kong native and was one of the reasons why Salata moved to Hong Kong. They have four children, Max, Alexandra Anna, Sebastian, and Keira. Salata's father, Orlando was an architect who graduated from the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. He had worked on the Barber National Institute and the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center. He died on 20 May 2009. Salata has a brother named Maurice who is also an architect like their father. In February 2021, Salata donated $5 million to Cathedral Preparatory School to help construct the Salata Technology and Innovation Center. In June 2022, Salata and Melanie donated $200 million to establish the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salata, Jean 1965 births Living people American people of Chilean descent Bain & Company employees Chilean billionaires Chilean businesspeople Chilean emigrants to the United States Hong Kong chief executives Hong Kong financial businesspeople Wharton School alumni

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References