Jho Low

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Low.

Jho Low
Native name	刘特佐
Born	Low Taek Jho 1981 (age 42–43) George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Residence	Hong Kong
Nationality	Malaysian
Alma mater	Harrow School Wharton Business School
Occupation	Businessman
Parent(s)	Larry Low (father)
Website	www.jho-low.com

Low Taek Jho (Chinese: 刘特佐; pinyin: Liú Tèzuǒ; Jyutping: Lau4 Dak1 Zou2), often called Jho Low, is a Malaysian financier and agent. He gained notoriety as a "tabloid party boy" in New York. He is reported to have a close relationship with Riza Aziz, the stepson of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Low has been associated with numerous high value transactions, including acquisitions of businesses, luxury real estate and art, as well as philanthropy. These transactions are sometimes opaque, leaving it unclear whether Low is acting as an agent or on his own behalf. Low runs a Hong Kong-based finance company called Jynwel Capital; Low is also the co-director of the philanthropic arm of Jynwel Capital.

Early life

Low grew up in George Town, on Penang Island. His grandfather Meng Tak Low was a businessman born in Guangdong Province in China. Meng Tak Low had interests in iron-ore mining, liquor distilleries, and real estate in China and Thailand in the 1960s and 1970s. Jho Low's father Hock Peng "Larry" Low was an executive for an investment holding company called MWE Holdings in the 1990s. Larry is also chairman and stockholder of Frenken Group, a company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Low was the youngest of three children. He went to Chung Ling High School and was sent to the elite Harrow School in London. In London he developed a close relationship with Riza Aziz and his mother Rosmah Mansor. He then enrolled in the undergraduate program of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School, where he continued to develop connections with Malaysians as well as Kuwaiti and Jordanian interests.

He can speak Malay, English, Mandarin, Hokkien and Teo Chew.

Business Dealings and Wealth

Although earlier in his career, Low had often claimed to be investing and making purchases on behalf of other investors or "friends," more recently Low has suggested that his family has considerable independent means. Although a 2015 New York Times article suggested that his family was of "somewhat deflated affluence," a 2014 Wall Street Journal profile called him a "scion" and estimated his family wealth at $1.75B.

Early Successes

He secured his first big transaction in Malaysian real estate in 2006, when he was funded by Kuwait Finance House via Islamic Finance Mudharabah to purchase the entire Oval Residences project of two high-rise apartment buildings in the prime location of KLCC Park in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for US$87 million. The project sold and closed in 2008, generating a project profit of close to US$20 million. According to the New York Times, "[b]y 2007, [Low] had formed an investment group that included a Malaysian prince, a Kuwaiti sheikh and a friend from the United Arab Emirates who went on to become ambassador to the United States and Mexico."

By 2010, Jynwel Capital was founded to advise the Low family’s global investments, with investors including leading sovereign wealth funds, major international investment companies and large family enterprises. Jho is the principle steward of Jynwel Capital, along with older brother Szen Low. He has cultivated relationships with some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, including Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co and the Kuwait Investment Authority. Jynwel is connected with deals including the acquisition of New York’s Park Lane Hotel for US$660 million in 2013 with The Witkoff Group and Mubadala; the takeover of Coastal Energy in 2014 for US$2.2 billion; and the buyout of EMI’s music publishing business in 2012 for US$2.2 billion with the Blackstone Group, Sony Corporation and Mubadala. Jho was the architect for Jynwel Capital’s bid to buy Reebok from Adidas AG in October 2014. The bid was for US$2.2 billion.

Low assists Aziz in the management of Red Granite Pictures, a Hollywood production company responsible for films such as Wolf of Wall Street and Dumb and Dumber To.

1Malaysian Development Berhad

Najib Razak gained the post of Malaysian Prime Minister in 2009. Soon, he became president of the board of advisers for 1MBD, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. A friend of Low's father became a director, and some of Low's friends joined the staff. Although Low never received an official position, he admits that he occasionally "consulted" with 1MBD, and was involved in a number of transactions connecting his own interests with those of 1MBD. 1MBD's questionable practices, combined with the luxurious tastes of the Prime Minister and his wife Rosmah, have created a political lightning rod.

Low has been criticized as a conduit of, participant in, and beneficiary of corrupt practices. For instance, the Wall Street Journal has reported that Malaysian and Singaporean authorities are investigating whether $529m deposited into accounts controlled by Low originated from 1MDB. A $33.5 million condominium in Manhattan was owned by a shell company under control of Low's family trust, and then was transferred to a shell company controlled by Razak's stepson. Another "home in Beverly Hills known as the pyramid house for a gold pyramid in its garden" was owned by a shell company controlled by the Low family trust, and was transferred to Razak's stepson by simply transferring control of the shell company to him. These and other transactions have led to a grand jury investigation by the United States Justice Department, under its "Kleptocracy Initiative."

Politics

Consistent with his personal connections to the Razak family, Low supported the Prime Minister during the 2013 elections. For instance, he organized a free pro-government concert in his home state of Penang. The concert featured American musicians Busta Rhymes and Ludacris and was criticized as unfair electioneering by the local, opposition government.

Social Life

Low gained early notoriety by spending extravagant sums in New York and Las Vegas parties. For instance, one invitation birthday celebration included Britney Spears, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Jamie Foxx, and Robert De Niro in a special tent outside the Wynn Hotel with security four-layers deep. He was also joined by the likes of Chris Brown, Psy, Busta Rhymes. The 300-plus VIPs were entertained by Leonardo DiCaprio rapping onstage with Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes. LMFAO's Redfoo and the Party Rock Crew also performed. "Everyday It's Your Birthday" song was also launched at the birthday celebration by producer Swizz Beatz, Ludacris and Chris Brown. At one party, a friend reportedly presented the 30-something Jho with a $2.5 million, 1,000-horsepower Bugatti Veyron. He was photographed with Paris Hilton while watching the FIFA World Cup 2010 at the Johannesburg Stadium. He is also connected to Jamie Foxx, Lindsay Lohan, Usher, Nicky Hilton and David Katzenberg, son of the founder of DreamWorks Studios. He has also been connected to very high value art purchases, such as Basquiat's "Dustheads" for nearly $50m.

Philanthropy

Low was faced with a cancer scare in 2012. It ultimately turned out to be a serious infection, but persuaded him to refocus his energies into global philanthropy.

Following this experience, Jho Low founded Jynwel Foundation in 2012 to honor the Low family tradition, started by his grandfather, who financed schools, hospitals and community centers in his hometown once he was financially stable. Jho Low’s grandfather passed away from cancer in 2013.

In 2013, Jynwel Foundation committed US$50 million to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Moon Shots Program, the hospital where Jho Low had spent six months recovering from his infection and cancer scare.

The donation will help to support the development of the organizations’ clinical-decision support tool, powered by IBM’s Watson, democratizing cancer care globally by ingesting, analyzing and organizing vast amounts of data to help physicians determine the most promising treatments for cancer patients.

Jho Low serves as a founding member of Panthera’s Global Alliance, on behalf of the Jynwel Foundation, to save the world’s 38 wild cat species and their environments, along with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Dr. Thomas Kaplan, and Hemendra Kothari. The group has committed US$80 million over the next ten years to fund solutions for conserving the world’s wild cats and their environments while mitigating their primary threats.

He is also involved with Alicia Keys’ Keep A Child Alive, underwriting the organization’s annual flagship fundraiser event in New York City on behalf of the Jynwel Foundation every year since 2012. He donated $250,000 to Keep a Child Alive in 2013 to expand the organization’s HIV programs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Jho Low delivered remarks about disruptive philanthropy at the 2014 Mashable Social Good Summit in New York City, introducing Alicia Keys’ “We Are Here” panel and committing US$1 million to the cause on behalf of Jynwel Foundation.

Jho Low also committed US$25 million over 15 years to the humanitarian news service IRIN on behalf of the Jynwel Foundation in November 2014. The appeal of the donation stems from his grandfather’s personal interest in humanitarian crises around the world. IRIN was funded by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for 20 years, which recently announced it would stop funding the service in 2014. This commitment will allow IRIN to restart operations as a nonprofit media venture.