Page 52 - Arts Management Magazine Future Issue

Harry Edelson

Harry Edelson is considered by many a legend in both the technology and
financial industries. In the 1970’s Harry was the first wall street analyst to
combine coverage of computers, software and telecommunications. He par-
ticipated in the birth of the internet as the Head of Marketing and Sales of
the two leading data terminal companies serving Darpanet, progenitor of the
internet. Edelson is the Founder and President at the China Investment Group,
LLC, and propelled the first internet company in China. Throughout his ca-
reer, Harry has been known for his energy and outsized results; partly due
to the highly honed skills that Harry developed in mnemonics, speed-reading
and speed math. The Edelson Technology Partner funds were the first venture
capital investor in eleven early stage companies that grew to have market cap-
italizations of more than $1 billion and up to $100 billion.

AMM: Could you please tell us about how you first became involved with China and began doing business there?
Harry Edelson: Yes. I worked on Wall Street as a securities analyst and I covered all of technology, for three
of the six leading investment banks. And since I covered companies like IBM and all the phone companies,
all the computer companies, I was very much involved with Japan, which was convenient with IBM, with
companies like Nippon Electric and Fujitsu. I would go to Japan to meet with the top Japanese computer
companies. One day, one of them said to me, “You want to go to China?” So, in 1984, I went to China
for the first time. I slept in a little inn, slept on the floor on a mat, actually. But I was fascinated by China.
And the people there, they’re sort of funny, you know, they’re very much like Americans. I enjoyed going to
China, and since that visit I stopped going to Japan and started going to China quite frequently. I invested in
two companies in China. My first two, they each became unicorns—that was China.com and HongKong.
com. So, I thought, “Hey, things are pretty good here in China, easy to make money.” Since 1984, I’ve been
to China 119 times.

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