A great loss

Yesterday was a sad day for me as I learnt that the Chairman and Founder of CLSA Limited, Gary Coull, passed away a few hours ago in the US where he was receiving treatment for cancer. Although he had been ill for a while, he was still very actively involved in the activities of CLSA – raising funds for our various private equity funds, promoting CLSA Capital Partners (the new brandname for our private equity business) and attending and hosting our forum as recent as September. No one, I certainly did not expect to lose such a driven and charismatic person.

I have known Gary since I joined CLSA in 1994. Although we were not friends, he was a boss, a colleague and a mentor to me, a good one too.

Gary had vision. His visions had shaped CLSA and made it what it is today, a very successful securities firm in Asia. However, what I remembered most about him is not his vision or his drive, I remember (and will always do) that he genuinely cared about the people who worked with/for him.

When I joined CLSA, the investment banking department (known as the corporate finance department back then) had just (or about to be) integrated into CLSA from our French parent, Credit Lyonnais. Physically, we were on the 38th Floor of the Lippo Center, away from the main entity on the 33rd Floor. Although physically separated, I remembered frequent visits from Gary, especially after those all-nighter placements. He did not just come to talk to the head of our department, he would stop by to chat to us, thank us for our efforts and he most of all, he remembered all our names. I was only a very junior staff back then, but he remembered my name and Geoff’s. I have not worked for many companies but I know that not many bosses or chairman would take the time to talk to and to learn more about his staff, especially junior ones.

He was truly a people person and he will be missed by many espeically those in CLSA and those whose life he has touched.

I know I will certainly miss him for a long long time!