Tan Xiangdong, also known as Adam Tan, is a Chinese-American businessman who is a co-founder of

Hainan Airlines Hainan Airlines is an airline headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. It is the largest civilian-run enterprise, civilian-run and majority State ownership, state-owned air transport company, making it the fourth-largest airline in terms of flee ...

and the CEO of

HNA Group HNA Group Co., Ltd., was a Chinese conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. Founded in 2000, it was involved in numerous industries including aviation, real estate, financial services, tourism, logistics, and ...

Biography

Tan received his B.A. from the Capital University of Economics and Business 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 ...

, his M.B.A. from St. John's University in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and an executive education diploma from

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 ...

. He worked in the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, where he met Chen Feng, who was asked by

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

provincial government to set up an airline, and co-founded

in the early 1990s. He became a director of HNA Group in 2001, and served as vice chairman and president from 2013 to 2016. He became CEO of HNA Group in 2016 and currently served as vice chairman from 2016 to 2020. Tan was credited as the "principal architect" of the group's expansion, which led to 80 deals totaling more than $40 billion between early 2015 and October 2017, including investments in

Deutsche Bank AG Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. Deutsche Bank was founded in ...

, the Hilton hotel chain and SkyBridge Capital. According to

Rupert Hoogewerf Rupert Hoogewerf (born 1970), also known by his Chinese name Hu Run (), is a British businessman, currently the chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Inc, best known for the "Hurun Rich List", a ranking of the wealthiest individuals. Early life ...

's 2019 Hurun Rich List, Tan was the 1507th richest person in China, with a net worth of RMB 2.5 billion, or $360 million. Tan also served as chairman of HNA Capital and the aircraft leasing company Avolon until February 2021. Tan has served as a member of Columbia College's board of visitors and a director of

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

. In September 2021, Tan and HNA group chairman Chen Feng were detained by the Chinese police for unspecified crimes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Xiangdong Living people American people of Chinese descent American businesspeople Capital University of Economics and Business alumni St. John's University (New York City) alumni Harvard Business School alumni Hainan Airlines HNA Group people World Bank people Chinese company founders Year of birth missing (living people)