[Webcast] Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank with Weijian Shan

Asia Society Southern California is delighted to host Weijian Shan to discuss themes developed in his latest book, Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea’s Most Iconic Bank. In a fireside chat with former ASSC Executive Director and WSJ journalist Jonathan Karp, Shan will discuss the details of one of the most successful buyout deals in history: the acquisition and turnaround of Korea First Bank by the U.S. firm Newbridge Capital. As the chief architect of the deal, Shan will share the cross-cultural challenges Newbridge faced and the strategies that led to success. The conversation will draw comparisons between the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis and the current COVID-induced global recession. He’ll identify lessons which can help today’s troubled companies and highlight the role private equity can play in saving national economies and companies and creating value.

“Dealmaker Weijian Shan has given us the full story of one of the most profitable acquisitions and successful turnarounds of the Asian Financial Crisis, as well as intimate and valuable personal insights. I recommend it for everyone who has ever wondered how the acquisitions we read about are accomplished.”

—Howard Marks, Founder and Co-Chairman, Oaktree Capital Management; author, Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side

To purchase a copy of Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank or Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America, please click the relevant link below:

• Money Games (Amazon for US and Book Depository for worldwide)
• Out of the Gobi (Amazon for US and Book Depository for worldwide)
• 《走出戈壁》（香港郵購 或 美國郵購）

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SPEAKER:

Weijian Shan

Chairman and CEO, PAG

Weijian Shan is chairman and CEO of PAG, a leading Asia-focused private equity firm. Prior to PAG, he was a partner of the private equity firm TPG, and co-managing partner of TPG Asia (formerly known as Newbridge Capital). Over two decades, Shan has led a number of landmark transactions that have returned billions of dollars in profit to his firms' investors. Previously, Shan was a managing director of JP Morgan, and an assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In his youth, he spent several years working as a laborer in the Gobi Desert of China. He holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco.

Shan is the author of "Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank" (2020) and "Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America" (2019). His articles and commentary have been published in the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs and many other publications.

MODERATOR: 

Jonathan Karp

Journalist and Former Executive Director, Asia Society Southern California

Karp served as Asia Society Southern California’s executive director from 2014 through mid-2019 and has since consulted for ASSC and other nonprofit organizations. He joined Asia Society after a distinguished career in journalism, including a decade of reporting in Asia. Karp began his journalism career in Israel in 1986 and continued as a foreign correspondent based in Hong Kong, New Delhi and Sao Paulo, Brazil, the last two posts as a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal. In 2004, he transferred to the Journal’s Los Angeles Bureau and later served as senior editor at Marketplace Radio, leading the business and finance coverage for their family of public radio shows. Karp studied Middle Eastern History at Princeton.

For any questions for the speakers in this program please submit in advance to ask_ASSC@asiasociety.org. We hope you'll consider joining Asia Society Southern California as a member and contributing, both available on our website.

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