Why Sequoia Capital is sawing off its Chinese branch

NEIL SHEN has god-like status in the Chinese private-equity industry. The lead dealmaker at Sequoia China placed big, early bets on some of the country’s most successful technology companies, such as Meituan, a delivery super-app, and Pinduoduo, an e-commerce giant. Now Mr Shen’s investment firm is planning to go it alone, dropping the Sequoia name and eventually severing all connections with its Silicon Valley parent.On June 6th Sequoia Capital, a 51-year-old stalwart of the venture-capital industry, announced it would split into separate American, Chinese and Indian businesses. Sequoia China has operated with a high degree of autonomy for a while, with Mr Shen calling most of the shots. So has Sequoia’s Indian and South-East Asian business, led by Shailendra Singh. By March 2024 the entities will no longer share investors or returns, as they have done for years. The Chinese branch will be known as HongShan, the mandarin word for redwood. Sequoia says the split is part of a “local-first” approach designed for a world where it has become “increasingly complex to run a decentralised global investment business”.