The Yale School of Management received its largest gift ever from an alumnus, after a 2002 graduate from China donated nearly $9 million in an unrestricted gift.
Lei Zhang is the founder of Hillhouse Capital Management, a China-based investment company with $2.5 billion under management named for a New Haven street that runs through Yale”™s campus. Zhang made his gift in the amount of $8,888,888, reflecting its connotations with wealth and luck in Chinese lore.
Yale plans to use the funds to build a new auditorium, part of a new campus being designed by London-based Foster + Partners.
“This truly extraordinary and auspicious gift reflects the deep commitment to Yale that Lei Zhang shares with so many fellow graduates of the School of Management,” said Richard Levin, president of Yale. “Lei”™s generosity also represents a significant step toward the realization of (the School of Management”™s) new campus.”
