EPISODE 1530: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to the inspiration behind THE SIBERIAN JOB, John Kleinheinz, on how he got rich in post communist Russia and what he learnt about the value of free markets and democracy
John Kleinheinz is the CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners, Inc., the investment advisor for the Global Undervalued Securities Fund, a global-macro themed hedge fund which at its peak managed $4 billion. He returned outside capital to investors in 2013 after a successful 20-year career. John continues to manage the Fund, which is active in a variety of areas including Japan, US energy/technology markets and private equity. He is also a lead investor in efforts to develop high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston. After graduating from Stanford in 1984 with a degree in economics, John began his career as an investment banker, working for Nomura Securities in Tokyo and Merrill Lynch in New York and London. Upon moving to Texas in 1993, he was a partner in an investment firm where he managed the Russia Value Fund, one of the earliest funds to invest in Russia and formed at the inception of the Russian stock market following the voucher privatization program in 1994. The Russia Value Fund was backed by several prominent investors, including Sir John Templeton and Robert Strauss, the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia. John remains actively involved at Stanford, serving as Chairman of the Board of Overseers for The Hoover Institution and on the advisory board of SIEPR (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research). He and his wife Marsha have three children and reside in Fort Worth. They are actively involved in a number of philanthropic activities, including public charter schools, through the Kleinheinz Family Foundation. John's adventures in post-communist Russia is the inspiration behind The Siberia Job (2023)
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
