中國私募界的名人招牌
For years, China’s 7ft, 6-inch basketball superstar Yao Ming used his height to slam dunk over the heads of opponents. Now he’s counting on his larger than life profile — one of China’s most recognisable — to raise capital at home and abroad.
在很多年時間裏，中國籃球超級巨星姚明曾利用自己7英尺6英寸的身高在對手頭頂灌籃得分。如今，他正依靠自己與衆不同的外形——中國最易於識別的形象之一——在境內外籌集資金。Mr Yao is among a growing cohort of athletes, supermodels, actors and pop stars in China leveraging their celebrity to tap the country’s lush investor base. Luminaries in the country have succeeded in raising billions of renminbi in recent years as total subscription in China’s private equity industry swells to more than Rmb12tn ($1.8tn) this year.
在中國，越來越多的運動員、超模、演員及流行歌手都在利用自身的名氣吸引國內樹大根深的投資者羣體，姚明便是其中一員。中國的名人近年來在私募界已成功籌集數十億人民幣。今年，中國私募股權行業的認繳總額已逾12萬億元人民幣（合1.8萬億美元）。The stardom has certainly helped launch the investing career of 36-year-old Mr Yao, who played for nine seasons on the US basketball team the Houston Rockets before retiring in 2011 with a foot injury.
體育明星的身份無疑對36歲的姚明開啓投資生涯大有裨益。姚明曾在美國休斯頓火箭隊(Houston Rockets)效力9個賽季，後於2011年因腳傷退役。
While well-known in the US, Mr Yao has risen to immense fame in China, becoming a symbol of China’s growing status on the international stage. He has even been inducted as a member of a national political body that meets once a year in Beijing.
在被美國人熟知的同時，姚明在中國也名聲日隆，併成爲中國在國際舞臺上地位不斷提升的象徵。他甚至還成爲每年在北京召開一次會議的全國性政治機構——中國人民政治協商會議——的一名委員。
Yao Capital, Mr Yao’s fund that he co-founded with Carlyle veteran David Han last year, has already attracted Rmb2bn and plans to raise a US dollar fund sometime this year. Mr Han says the Yao name opens doors and helps with fundraising.
去年，姚明與曾供職凱雷(Carlyle)的資深投資人韓大爲(David Han)共同創立了曜爲資本(Yao Capital)。該基金已籌得20億元人民幣，並計劃在今年募集一支美元基金。韓大爲表示，姚明的名字爲我們打開了大門，有助於籌資。“The reason why we call it Yao Capital is for brand awareness,” Mr Han says. “Wherever we go, in Europe or the US, people know who Yao is.”
“我們稱該基金爲Yao Capital，原因是爲了品牌認知，”韓大爲說，“無論走到哪裏，無論在歐洲還是美國，人們都知道Yao是誰。”
