“Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”
— Abraham Lincoln
About
A life built on two shores.
Benjamin Wey’s journey embodies the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of America — a story that begins in Beijing and continues on Wall Street.
The Story
$62, a one-way ticket and a scholarship.
Benjamin Wey arrived in the United States as a young man from Beijing, China, carrying $62, a one-way plane ticket and a full scholarship to an American university. What he lacked in resources he made up for in resolve: he studied hard, worked tirelessly and started several businesses while still on college campuses.
Each small victory built on the last, and those early ventures catapulted him into a Wall Street career as a job creator and accomplished American financier. Today he is CEO of New York Global Group, a thriving international private equity and advisory firm with access to more than $1 billion in investment capital, helping to fund tens of thousands of jobs worldwide.
A Columbia University graduate, Benjamin Wey holds two master’s degrees in business. He credits his success to a combination of ethical optimism and unrelenting perseverance — and to a lesson learned from his mother: every conversation is an opportunity for improvement and growth.
“Every conversation is an opportunity for improvement and growth.”
A lesson from his mother
The Bridge
A niche between the world’s two largest economies.
For more than three decades, Benjamin Wey has used his understanding of both American and Chinese cultures to build a business model that serves as a bridge between the United States and China.
His American colleagues and business partners admire his ability to separate the grain from the chaff and trust his acumen in identifying business opportunities in Asia. His Chinese colleagues trust his experience and judgment, and see in him a model for China’s sustained economic engagement with the world.
Like the New York he adopted as his home, Benjamin Wey is not content with the status quo. He is always looking to expand the boundaries of what is possible — for his clients, his colleagues and the communities his work supports.
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Beijing to America
Arrives in the United States with $62, a one-way ticket and a full university scholarship. Starts several businesses while still in school.
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Columbia University
Earns two master’s degrees in business, building the analytical foundation for a career in global finance.
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New York Global Group
Becomes CEO of an international private equity and advisory firm with access to more than $1 billion in investment capital.
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Industry Leadership
Named Deputy Director of the China Mergers & Acquisitions Association; advises companies on both sides of the Pacific.
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Speaker & Commentator
Featured speaker at MIT, keynote at the Babson Entrepreneurship Forum, and on-air commentary for The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and China Central Television.
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Philanthropy
Leads annual efforts supporting hundreds of children at a rural K–12 school in Hebei province, China.
Life Principles
The ideas he works by.
“Facts are stubborn things.”
— John Adams
“You only have one life to live. Between life and death is courage.”
— Benjamin Wey