Surviving Mao’s China (w/ Weijian Shan) | Interview | Real Vision™ 

It’s been an improbable journey for Weijian Shan: Amid the shadows of Mao’s rule in China, Shan overcame enslavement, starvation and hard labor before coming to America. Shan went on to earn his undergraduate degree, MBA and doctorate and taught at Wharton before returning to China where he now oversees $30 billion in private equity. In this wide-ranging interview with Brian Price, Shan discusses his new book, “Out of the Gobi” and offers his take on the Fed’s next move, Apple’s struggles, and what a major Wall Street firm can do to alleviate the distress caused by the current U.S. government shutdown. Filmed on January 9th, 2019 in New York.
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Surviving Mao’s China (w/ Weijian Shan) | Interview | Real Vision™
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Transcript:
Weijian, thank you so much for joining us on Real Vision.
Pleasure.
So in studying your life, growing up in the shadow of Mao's China, to doing hard labor in the Gobi Desert, to making your way to the US, earning your masters, your MBA, your PhD, to becoming a managing director at JPMorgan, to now being CEO of PAG, where you oversee $30 billion, you've led an incredible life. But I want to hear it from you. Talk to me a little bit about how you came up and how you became the success that you are today.
I'm not quite sure if I would call where I am today as a success. I'm still trying very hard. But I didn't choose my life. It was chosen for me, especially growing up in China during that period of time.
You know, I wrote this book. It's a recount of history-- the most horrible part of Chinese history that I lived through. And my story is rather unique, and also very representative of my generation.
And at that time, there was not much choice. You just did whatever you were told to do, or you were assigned to do. And I was sent to the Gobi Desert.
It was not until the end of the so-called cultural revolution in 1976 when everything came to an end. China, in 1979, opened up, established a relationship-- diplomatic relationship-- with America under Jimmy Carter. And the next year, I had an opportunity to come to America to study.
That's how it happened. After that, I had some choices-- choices of which school to go, choices of what to study. And it was in this country I find choices.
You oversee $30 billion. You're one of the world's most respected investors out of Asia.
That's dwarfed by American private equity firms like Blackstone.
Fair enough. And they are one of your backers.
Yes.
Along with several US pension funds.
We're grateful to them for their trust.
So I want to take a step back and talk about how you got to where you are, success or not. Because I want folks to understand when I say the Gobi Desert. And your book, Out of the Gobi, discusses, in large part, leaving Mao's China to have to do hard labor in the desert. Talk to me about that hard labor.
What was that? What was that like? How did that shape you to become the man you are today?
School came to the end for me when I was 12, when I finished elementary school. The country was in chaos. Schools were shut for about 10 years.