Li Ruigang

Li Ruigangis a Chinese businessman who rose to prominence as president of the state-owned conglomerate Shanghai Media Group (SMG).

Li studied journalism at Shanghai’s Fudan University, where he earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. After completing his master’s degree in 1994, he worked as a reporter and later as a news producer for a local television station. He then spent several years working as an adviser to the deputy mayor of Shanghai. In 2001–02 Li was a visiting scholar studying international media administration at Columbia University in New York City. Upon his return to China in April 2002, he became the assistant president of Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group, SMG’s parent company. The following October, Li was named president of SMG.

The Chinese government’s willingness to open the door to foreign investment allowed Li to negotiate with overseas businesses that had long been eager to gain access to China’s huge market. Under Li’s guidance, SMG doubled its size within a few years, branching out from local television and radio broadcasting into an array of other ventures, including newspapers and magazines, music production, news Web sites, and digital cable and Internet-based television services. He also secured a license to operate an IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) service, the first such license granted by China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. With Viacom, SMG agreed to syndicate MTV and Nickelodeon programming on SMG channels.

In 2011 Li stepped down as president of SMG to focus on China Media Capital (CMC), a private equity and venture capital company that he had founded two years earlier. He served as chairman of CMC, which quickly became known for its entertainment and media investments.