James McGregor

JAMES L. MCGREGOR is a journalist-turned-businessman who has lived in Beijing for 15 years. He is a founding partner of BlackInc China L.L.C., a boutique advisory firm which specializes in cross-border investing, business development and mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese and American Internet technology and online media companies. He also serves as Senior China Advisor for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, China Advisor for SpencerStuart, and is a Senior Director of Stonebridge International LLC, an international strategic advisory firm headed by former U.S. National Security Advisor Sandy Berger.

From 2000 until 2003, McGregor was a partner and the China managing director for GIV Venture Partners, a $140 million venture capital fund specializing in technology investments in China and India. McGregor was a pioneer of the Chinese Internet, serving as an advisor to many Chinese Internet startups and as a board member of Sohu.com during the company’s NASDAQ listing. From 1994 to 2000, McGregor was chief executive of Dow Jones & Co. in China, and a vice-president in the Dow Jones International Group. In that role for Dow Jones, starting with himself and one assistant, McGregor built a portfolio of media businesses in China that employed some 150 Chinese professionals with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

McGregor’s China career began in 1985 when he backpacked through China to explore the country and decide if he wanted to learn Mandarin and focus on being a journalist in China. At the time, McGregor was a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. for Knight-Ridder Newspapers. His interest in Asia began at age 18 when he served as an infantry soldier in Vietnam. McGregor’s 1985 trip to China convinced him that China would be the most interesting place in the world during his lifetime. So in 1987, he and his wife Cathy, both age 33, sold their belongings and moved to Taipei, Taiwan, with two suitcases each and began studying Mandarin. McGregor established a freelance news service, and within six months was hired at The Asia Wall Street Journal Taiwan bureau chief. In 1990, McGregor moved to Beijing as The Wall Street Journal China bureau chief.

In 1996, McGregor was Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. He also served for a decade as a Governor of that organization. McGregor is a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations; a member of the International Council of the Asia Society; and he serves on a variety of China-related advisory boards. McGregor speaks and reads Chinese. He is a graduate of the journalism school at the University of Minnesota.

He is a frequent speaker on China and a commentator for American television. He has been regularly interviewed by the major network nightly newscasts, as well as by CNBC, CNN, PBS, NPR and BBC. He also has appeared on many public affairs shows, ranging from Nightline to Firing Line to McNeil-Lehrer.

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