James F Lu
Lu at Asian Leadership Conference 2019
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Michigan
Bachelor of Science
Master of Science
Known forFounding Team of Chegg
Chairman of Grindr
GM of Amazon Marketing Services (later renamed to Amazon Advertising)
Websitewww.jamesflu.com

James Fu Bin Lu[1][2][3][4] is an American Internet entrepreneur. He has been a serial entrepreneur and senior corporate executive in Amazon and Baidu. He has served as the chairman of Grindr since 2020 and leading investor to a number of high-profile technology companies globally.

Biography

Lu received master's degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Michigan (graduating summa cum laude) and worked as an engineer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, developing software for the Mars rover.

Lu was a founder of textbook rental company Chegg and social network Yoolin, serving as its CEO. Yoolin was acquired by zhanzuo.com in 2007.[5]

After serving as the Global Head of Amazon Marketing Services (now known as Amazon Advertising), Lu was hired in June, 2015 by Baidu as vice president of content ecosystems. Lu left Baidu in 2017.

In late 2015, Lu drove a $88M USD investment into Kuaishou at $2.1B valuation and sat on the board of the company. In 2021, Kuaishou went public in HK Stock Exchange and the investment delivered $4.9B in profit (approximately 56 times return).[6]

In 2020, Lu was a lead investor in the over $600 million acquisition of Grindr from Beijing Kunlun Tech Co.[7][8] This transaction came about as a result of the decision by CFIUS to compel the owner of Grindr, a Shenzhen-listed Chinese company, to sell the company to US interests.[9] In Nov 2022, the company went public in New York Stock Exchange. Lu's personal stake in the company is estimated to be worth $750m to 1.5B. [10]

In 2021, Lu led a controlling acquisition of Investing.com from its founder and served as a director of the board.[11]

In Feb 2022, Lu was the leading investor in the acquisition of Coins.ph from GoTo and serving as a board member.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Baidu bids goodbye to VP James Lu, latest in string of executive losses". Tech Wire Asia. May 31, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  2. ↑ "陆复斌成百度贴吧新掌门 曾是NASA软件工程师". techweb.com.cn. June 25, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  3. ↑ "陆复斌成百度贴吧新掌门 曾是NASA软件工程师". Tencent Technology News. June 25, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ Ahn Sang-hee (May 15, 2019). "바이두 前 부사장 "열정보다 성장잠재력이 성공 키워드"". Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Roundup". VentureBeat. August 6, 2007. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  6. ↑ "快手融资故事：还原 2021 年中国互联网第一场资本盛宴". 晚点Late Post. February 10, 2021.
  7. ↑ Stech Ferek, Katy (May 29, 2020). "U.S. Approves Sale of Dating App Whose Owners Were Probed by National Security Officials". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  8. ↑ Hale, Kori (March 26, 2020). "Grindr's Chinese Owner Sells Gay Dating App Over U.S. Privacy Concerns For $600 Million". Forbes. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ Bauerle Danzman, Sarah; Gertz, Geoffrey (April 3, 2019). "Why is the U.S. forcing a Chinese company to sell the gay dating app Grindr?". Washington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ Tognini, Giacomo. "Grindr Stock Skyrockets After SPAC Merger, Minting At Least One Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  11. ↑ "East Asian fund buys Investing.com for $500m". Globes, Israel business news. April 22, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Joffre Capital finalizes acquisition of Coins.ph". Manila Standard. April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.


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