#279

Liang Wenfeng

China 41 years old Self-Made

Overview

Source of Wealth
AI, hedge fund
Industry
Technology
Residence
Hangzhou
Education
Zhejiang University (Bachelor of Engineering)
Zhejiang University (Master of Science in Engineering)

Biography

Liang Wenfeng is the founder of Hangzhou, China-based AI firm DeepSeek and quantitative trading firm High-Flyer Capital Management.

DeepSeek took the world by storm when it released its R1 model in January 2025, claiming to rival the performance of OpenAI's ChatGPT at a lower cost.

Liang launched DeepSeek in 2023 and funded it in part with proceeds from High-Flyer, the hedge fund he founded in 2015 with two college classmates.

Liang used math and AI techniques to build High-Flyer, and by 2019 it was one of the largest and best-performing quantitative trading firms in China.

High-Flyer reached a peak of $14 billion in assets under management in 2021. The firm's performance then declined and assets fell to around $6 billion.

About

Liang met with Chinese president Xi Jinping at a meeting with Chinese tech entrepreneurs in Beijing in February 2025.