Asia tycoon backs US$1.5 billion AI bet with private credit fund
[LONDON] A patriarch for one of Asia’s biggest finance fortunes is joining other members of the global rich in bolstering artificial intelligence (AI) investments, defying fears of a bubble.
Andre Koo Sr has committed at least US$100 million to anchor two funds started this month that will allocate to AI infrastructure companies, including those partnering with chipmaking giant Nvidia, according to documents seen by Bloomberg and a source with knowledge of the matter.
The funds, managed by the Koo dynasty’s asset-backed financing business Chailease Holding and Jasper Lau’s Era, are seeking to raise US$1.5 billion from other ultra-wealthy individuals and institutions, the source said, asking not to be identified as the details are private.
A spokesperson for Era declined to comment, while a representative for Koo confirmed the billionaire’s role as an anchor investor, without specifying his commitment. Split across two branches, the Koo family oversee one of the biggest fortunes in their native Taiwan, with a combined net worth of at least US$7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Koo Sr is a fourth-generation member of the Koo dynasty and controls a stake worth more than US$400 million in Chailease. He joins Gulf sovereign wealth funds, Silicon Valley giants and other billionaires in boosting bets on AI infrastructure such as data centres and graphics processing units.
Billionaire US investor Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office has increased its stake this year in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s most advanced chipmaker and the main supplier to Nvidia and Apple, while the data-centre boom has minted its own billionaire elite.
Almost all 335 leaders at investment firms for the world’s rich surveyed this year as part of Bank of America research released this month say AI could enhance financial returns. Some ultra-wealthy individuals, including Peter Thiel, are curbing AI bets, however, amid concerns over booming valuations that have turned Nvidia into the world’s most valuable company.
The Koo dynasty’s business empire dates back to 1895 and has become one of the most influential in the region. The family made its fortune initially dealing in goods such as salt and sugar, before expanding into real estate, industrials and finance, including stakes in CTBC Financial Holding and KGI Financial Holding. Koo Sr is the honorary chairman of Taipei-based Chailease, whose share price has climbed more than four-fold in the past two decades.
Chailease and Koo are committing at least US$50 million each to the Chailease fund targeting private credit allocations to AI infrastructure companies, though the plans aren’t finalised and the tycoon may invest more, the source familiar said.
Koo has also committed US$50 million to the Era fund, which will seek equity stakes in AI infrastructure companies in a deal arranged through the billionaire’s family office, the documents seen by Bloomberg show. That fund is overseen by Lau, a 30 year-old US-based investor who founded the company in 2022 after previously establishing another money manager backed by members of the world’s super-rich. Lau also helps oversee investments for Koo Sr, the source familiar said.
Target investments for the Era fund include companies that help to accelerate graphics processing and those built with technology from Nvidia, the documents show.
A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. BLOOMBERG
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