David Yang, a former executive for the United Arab Emirates’ biggest sovereign wealth fund, has joined the multibillion-dollar investment firm for the dynasty behind the luxury fashion house Chanel.
Yang, former head of private equity for China at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, holds a similar role in Hong Kong at the Mousse Partners family office, according to registry filings. He left the UAE firm earlier this year, according to his LinkedIn profile.
A representative for New York-based Mousse Partners declined to comment. A representative for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Mousse manages money for the Wertheimers — among the world’s richest families, with a fortune of about $90 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Their wealth stems from ownership of Chanel, a maker of $900 sunglasses, $7,200 handbags and $15,000 J12 watches.
The London-based company has paid about $9 billion in dividends over the past five years, fueling the growth of the Wertheimers’ outside investments.
Mousse, which invests in stocks, real estate, credit and private equity, has been run for more than two decades by Charles Heilbronn, half-brother of Alain and Gerard Wertheimer. The firm doesn’t disclose how much money it controls or most of its holdings, though some companies have named Mousse as a participant in recent transactions.
That includes the move this year by some members of the Rothschild dynasty to take the private Paris-based bank Rothschild & Co. Mousse Partners was among investors taking a minority stake, alongside the billionaire Dassault and Peugeot families.
Mousse also boosted its investment last year in the personal-care company Bravo Sierra as well as biotechnology firm Evolved By Nature. It holds a stake in hair products maker Olaplex Holdings Inc., which has seen its share price slump 91% since listing in New York in 2021.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, Yang worked at ADIA for about five years and previously was at the European private equity firm CVC Partners, according to his LinkedIn profile. He’s now a director of the Hong Kong unit for Mousse Partners, filings show.
Mousse employs more than three dozen people and counts former banking analysts from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. among its employees. Suzi Kwon Cohen joined as chief investment officer in 2016 after leading North America private equity for Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, while Jan Faller was appointed chief risk officer in 2021 after leaving Pacific Investment Management Co.