Michael Chu (private equity investor)
James Michael Chu is an American financial businessman. He has been the private equity manager and co-chief executive officer of L Catterton since 1989.
Early life
Chu graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1980, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and economics with highest honours. At Bates, he was a member of the board of trustees from 1995 to 2013.Career
Chu held various senior financial management positions with The First Pacific Company, a Hong Kong publicly listed investment and management company which he joined in early 1983.L Caterton
In 1989, Chu co-founded what would later become L Catterton and subsequently served as one of the firm's Global Co-CEOs.In 2015, Catterton Partners took on as minor partners Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Groupe Arnault (the family office of Bernard Arnault, bringing together $12 billion in assets as L Catterton. In May 2018, his firm was listed as the 31st largest private equity firm in the world, based on capital raised over the prior five years. In June 2022, L Catterton were ranked 30th in Private Equity International's 2022 PEI 300 ranking.
Other memberships and philanthropy
Chu is a member of the Committee of 100.In 2016, Chu and his wife made a $10 million gift to Bates College, supporting the creation of a professorship and other initiatives at the institution.