EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief correspondent
So who is Huang Jian-hua, better known by the westernised name of Kenny Huang? This has been the question on the lips of Liverpool supporters initially excited by the possibility of new ownership of their club but fearful, too, that the only football knights in shining armour seem to reside in Abu Dhabi.
And as it emerged on Wednesday night that Huang is fronting a bid by China Investment Corporation (CIC), the overseas investment arm of the Chinese Government, Huang remains at the forefront of what could be one of the most audacious takeovers of a football club ever.
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Verifiable facts have been in short supply and personal details of Huang are sketchy. Yet there is enough evidence to show that he is a well connected entrepreneur whose financial acumen, Wall Street apprenticeship and command of Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese and English has made him an ideal bridge between the emerging markets of the Far East and the high rollers of the United States.
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"Huang is a guy with real vision but also the ability to make it a reality."
Marc Ganis
Chicago-based sports consultant |
“He is very good at what he does,” said one business source. “He is basically a deal-maker bringing Chinese sponsors into the US market and promoting western sports in China.”
Investigation into Huang’s background can allay a few misconceptions. The Chinese businessman is not a billionaire and he does not own, as has widely been reported, a 15 per cent stake in the NBA basketball team Cleveland Cavaliers. Indeed, he released a wide-ranging press statement in April that confirmed this.
The extent of his personal wealth is unclear although talk of him being a Roman Abramovich-style benefactor is far-fetched. There is no mention of his name in the Hurun List, which compiles information about China’s richest individuals, and no details of his fortune in the company’s files.
It is known that he was born into a family influential in business and Government circles in the southern Guangdong province of China in September 1964 and he is said to have been a sports nut who was an outstanding badminton player in his youth.
Huang graduated from his hometown’s Zhongshan University in 1984 before moving to the US to study economics and finance at Columbia University and then complete a Masters degree in financial management at St John’s in New York.
He first attracted attention in 1988 when he became the first mainland educated Chinese graduate to work on the New York Stock Exchange, initially as a public relations executive before moving into private wealth management. He left Wall Street in 1991 to work as a private financial adviser, building up a client list of mainly Chinese investors.
Huang then rose to prominence in business and sporting circles as a well connected facilitator of sponsorship deals. He founded SportsCorp China in 2002 with Chicago-based sports consultant Marc Ganis and established himself by cutting deals to market NBA team Houston Rockets and the iconic New York Yankees baseball team to Chinese businesses. He introduced the beer brand Tsingtao to Cleveland Cavaliers and set up a deal, announced as recently as Monday, for Chinese firm Uni-President to be the Yankees’ official noodle partner for the next four years.
New Anfield | Huang wants to resurrect Liverpool's new stadium plans
His Hong Kong-based investment vehicle QSL Sports owns the commercial rights to the fledgling China Baseball League after signing a 15-year, multi-million dollar deal. Huang added to his portfolio by buying a Chinese basketball team – Jilin Northeast Tigers – that plays in the main CBA League and he owns I Basketball magazine. He is either chairman or co-chair of the National Basketball League of China, Chinese Baseball League and Chinese Youth Baseball League.
Outside of sport, Huang’s track record is more tangible. He is managing director of Rocket Capital – the investment platform he launched with Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander - and is said to have made significant amounts of money in a variety of capital markets by investments including the China Railway Group, the carmakers Brilliance Auto, the Xinjiang Xinxin Mining Industry Company and the Longrun Tea Group.
With his designer glasses, slick suits, American citizenship and jet-set lifestyle – he divides his time between Hong Kong, Guangzhou and the US - Huang is the urbane, corporate face of modern China. But, although not secretive, he has always maintained a low profile, giving few interviews or press conferences.
He has unarguably been in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the economic boom in his homeland and the eagerness of north America to form closer ties with Asia’s emerging markets.
“He is someone who can straddle both cultures,” said another source closely connected with Huang. “He has done that extremely successfully with sponsorship deals and through bringing people to the table.” His regular sidekick Ganis described him as “a guy with real vision but also the ability to make it a reality”.
Yet it is clear that Huang does not have the personal wealth to clear Liverpool’s £237 million of debt, invest in the playing squad and reignite the new stadium plans. The identity of his financial backers was shrouded in secrecy until the trump card of one of the world's fastest growing economies was revealed.
Liverpool fans mulling over the credentials of this businessman will hope Huang is the key to a more affluent future rather than an empty Eastern promise.