News & Analysis

Morgan Stanley China CEO goes to Bain

Jonathan Zhu’s departure follows that of ex-Morgan Stanley colleague David Liu, who is moving to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in Hong Kong.

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Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital has lured the former chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley in China to its Hong Kong office.
 
Jonathan Zhu joined Bain Capital as managing director earlier this week. He will work alongside managing director Jim Hildebrandt in the Asia investment team, based in the Hong Kong office that opened at the beginning of this year. A third managing director, Jing Huang, works out of the Shanghai office.
 

Zhu: making move into private equity

Zhu began his career with New York law firm Shearman & Sterling. He subsequently joined Morgan Stanley in New York, but has spent much of the last ten years working for the firm in China.
 
Hildebrandt and Huang joined Bain Capital last year. Hildebrandt came from management consultancy Bain & Company, Huang from Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF).
 
Zhu’s is the second high-profile departure from Morgan Stanley’s Asia franchise in quick succession. Last month, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts announced that David Liu, the former head of its Asia private equity division, would be joining its Hong Kong office as a managing director.
 
In addition to Hong Kong, Bain Capital has offices in New York, London, Munich, Tokyo and Shanghai. The firm has more than $27 billion (€22.7 billion) in assets under management.