Neil Shen (沈南鵬)

Company: Sequoia Capital China (紅杉資本中國(guó))

Industry: Investment

Position: Board chairman, CEO

Age: 42

As one of the most successful venture capitalists in China, Neil Shen is said to "turn stone into gold." After graduating from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Yale University, Shen worked many years in the investment banking industry in New York and Hong Kong. In 1999, he became one of the founders of Ctrip.com, now the largest online travel company in China, going public in 2003. He is also a co-founder and co-chairman of Home Inns, the leading economic hotel chain in China, which went public in 2006. In 2005, Shen left Ctrip and joined Sequoia Capital, investing in many companies in science and technology and other areas. Against the backdrop of the finanical crisis, Shen and his  Sequoia remains bullish about China and invest heavily in many promising Chinese companies.