Draft:Bing Chen

Introduction

Bing Chen is an entrepreneur, investor, and humanitarian known for co-pioneering the global creator economy and his work in forging socioeconomic opportunities for minority communities. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gold House, a family of companies devoted to uniting, investing in, and reshaping global socioeconomic opportunities for multicultural communities. Previously, he was the YouTube Global Head of Creator Management & Development and first YouTube Creator Marketing Manager where he co-created and co-led many of YouTube’s foundational creator services.

Early Life and Education

Bing Chen was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee in the United States. At 10, his family moved to Shanghai, China where he spent most of his formative years until finishing high school in Orange County, California. He pursued higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Creative Writing and Minors in Psychology and Marketing. At Penn, he was a member of the Sphinx Senior Society and Oracle Senior Honor Society and rebooted the Ivy Council, originally created to unify priorities and resources from across the Ivy League. During his tenure, he reforged all programming including its flagship Ivy Summit; launched international cooperative learning and cultural exchange programs with the European Students' Union, the All-China Youth Federation, and Grand Turkish National Assembly; and co-created new initiatives that fostered professional advancement and cultural understanding that persist to this day.

Career

YouTube & Google

Bing Chen joined YouTube / Google in 2010 as part of Google’s Rotational Associate Manager Program, an accelerated executive program crafted by Marissa Mayer to foster the future leaders of industry. He began as YouTube’s first Creator Marketing Manager where, alongside Product Manager Shenaz Zack, Top Partner Manager Margaret Healy, Partnership Marketing Head Chris Hamilton, Partner Support Head Jim Woods, and Content Operations VP Tom Pickett, pioneered what the world now names the “creator economy.” Chen is credited with co-conceiving and leading fame building efforts such as the global rewards system including the YouTube Gold and Silver Play Buttons; the co-production and rise of VidCon and Fanfest (the largest creator events in their categories); and for co-launching Watch Time, the guiding algorithm of the platform. In 2011, he fostered YouTube’s creator monetization growth by leading the globalization of the YouTube Partner Program; while also co-creating and co-launching a slate of creative development efforts including NextUp (YouTube’s first and longest-standing talent incubator); YouTube’s first academic partnerships including a new YouTube Creator Institute with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts; creator community tools and services such as https://www.youtube.com/creators; and standardized the term “creator” across the platform. Annie Baxter, PR lead at the time, conceived of “creator economy” as a term to legitimize their collective work further that year. He ended his YouTube tenure leading the platform’s global creator strategy and several marquee programs he created.

Gold House

In 2018, Bing Chen co-founded Gold House alongside 500 Asian Pacific leaders, including Kevin Lin (Co-founder of Twitch), Janet Yang (President of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), Jon M. Chu (Director), Prabal Gurung (Fashion Designer), and more to form a single apparatus that could harness the “the power and pain” of the global majority: the Asian Pacific diaspora. Fueled, in part, by rising attacks against the diaspora but mostly by the socioeconomic opportunity of the fastest-growing minority in the United States that was increasingly driving a disproportionate percentage of multinational global growth, he and the co-founders conducted a 9-month research study to evaluate the global community’s foremost needs, finally anchoring on unity, media representation for narrative change, venture investing for economic parity, and mainstream recognition. Gold House was incorporated in 2018 with Jeremy Tran, his childhood best friend who he met as the Boys State California Governor and Boys Nation Senator, who became a primary co-founder and the company’s COO. The team chose "Gold" as a unifying symbol and rebranding of the diaspora.

Media and Narrative Change

After forging a network of top cultural leaders, Gold House’s first unifying initiative became Gold Open, a viral movement to ensure the opening weekend success of Asian Pacific creative projects. Crazy Rich Asians, helmed by Jon M. Chu, became a rallying cry for the entire diaspora as the first Asian-led studio film in more than two decades (since The Joy Luck Club, also produced by Gold House co-founder, Janet Yang). Over a 30-person intimate “Family Dinner” at Jon M. Chu’s father’s Chef Chu’s in Palo Alto, the founders of Hulu, Rotten Tomatoes, Google Ventures, Opendoor, Polyvore, and more crafted a movement modeled after Black leaders and women that bought out theatres while aligning celebrity and industry CEO names to the buyouts to inspire more. Crazy Rich Asians ended up becoming the highest-grossing romantic comedy in a decade and unlocked a windfall of Asian creative Renaissance, making the Asian diaspora the only group to make meaningful onscreen progress in 15 years. Based on the distribution success of Asian Pacific film and series/TV projects, Gold House expanded to research, cultural consulting such as script review and casting, content investments, more than 16 creative accelerators with leading creative companies across film, music, and fine art, and securing mainstream awards for projects and creators. To date, Gold House has consulted on over 400 major creative projects, invested in dozens of independent films and media companies, and ensured the opening weekend success and awards of more than 50 projects including Parasite, the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, which went on to win multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Venture and Economic Empowerment

To break the glass ceiling that Asian Pacific leaders are the least likely to be promoted to management, Gold House decided that building one’s own companies was the fastest way to diversify C-Suites, Boards, and capital tables. Beginning with a venture accelerator, Gold Rush (an homage to the Asian Pacific leaders who built the transcontinental railroad), co-built by Megan Ruan and Mikkoh Chen, Gold House began assembling a network of the most promising Asian Pacific founders.

In 2021, Gold House launched Gold House Ventures with General Partners Eric Feng and Megan Ruan, an early-stage $30 million venture capital firm to invest in Asian Pacific founders and companies, anchored by more than 96 of the foremost Asian Pacific founders of the last decade such as Tony Xu, Shan-Lyn Ma, Steve Chen, and celebrities like Padma Lakshmi and Bowen Yang. It furthers its economic mobility endeavors through more than a dozen Prizes and Grants for underprivileged founders including its First Gold Prize with Brooks Brothers.

Mainstream Recognition

To penetrate mainstream media and drive global recognition, Gold House launched the A100, colloquially known as the “Time100 for the Asian Pacific diaspora,” in 2018. In 2022, the company debuted its corresponding event, The Gold Gala, the “Asian Pacific Met Gala” and most-viewed community gathering on the continent. The inaugural event honored Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling, Dwayne the Rock Johnson, CJ ENM’s Miky Lee, Dominic Ng, and more pioneers across mainstream Asian Pacific media.

To further bolster Asian Pacific mainstream awareness, Gold House promotes the official Asian Pacific presence at nearly every major cultural tentpole event in the West through its “Gold Toasts” and collaborations including Sundance Film Festival, the Academy Awards, the Grammy Awards, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Lions, F1, Emmy Awards, Art Basel, and more.

In 2024, Gold House launched its multi-million dollar Gold Media Network to unify promotional dollars and earned media for Asian Pacific creativity and companies.

Asia and the Gold Bridge

In 2023, Chen announced Gold House’s Phase II plan, “Gold Bridge," at the annual Gold Gala, comprised of a three-prong strategy of community building across the Pacific, collaborating on creative and venture investments while galvanizing local market growth, and distributing those content and companies across the Pacific.

In 2024, it announced its first governmental partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board to galvanize the Southeast Asian venture ecosystem through new company founding, industry knowledge exchange, and deal sharing. Renewed annually by its “Gold Prix” trip during Singapore’s F1 and in partnership with the Milken Institute, All That Matters, and more, Gold House regularly fosters dialogue across the Pacific between top founders and funders for new economic opportunities; invests in deals while scaling companies across the Pacific, and empowers the creation of new companies to help reshape centers of power to the East.

One House

Endemic to all of Gold House’s work is cross-cultural unity, known as “One House.” Based on the principle that solutions to minority challenges are often concentric even if their origins are distinct, Gold House has debuted One House efforts across unity (through One House Toasts, celebrating multicultural honorees at every major awards such as the Emmys while also diversifying voter bases), media representation (its One House Filmmakers Fund, Sundance’s first multicultural film fund, alongside East West Bank, the NAACP, GLAAD, Latinx House, and the Blackhouse), and economic empowerment (its One House Leadership Coalition alongside over a dozen funds including BBG Ventures, the NAACP's fund, Harlem Capital, Gaingels, Halogen Ventures, Kapor Capital, Golden Seeds, and more).

AU Holdings

AU Holdings ("Awe") is Chen’s personal holding company that invests in, incubates, and advises “new majority” content, companies, and communities. To date, the firm has invested in dozens of companies, been incubating its first original creative IP, and has advised the creator economy strategies of several countries and companies like Bytedance, Oura, Snap, Spotify, Pinterest, and more.

Awards and Recognition

Bing Chen has received numerous accolades, including:

• Google Multicultural Champion
• Los Angeles Times Most Influential Leaders (Link)
• American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement (Link)
• Forbes "30 Under 30"
• The Hollywood Reporter "Agent of Change" and "Next Gen 35 Under 35"
• American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement & Jack Averett Honoree
• ABC News History Maker
• Fast Company Brands That Matter
• ADCOLOR Catalyst
• Asia Society Asia 21 Young Leader
• Boys State Governor (California), Boys Nation Senator
• Tennessee Squire

Organizational Affiliations

Bing Chen is actively involved with several organizations that focus on culture and minority groups. He is a Young President’s Organization Member, Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle Member, PTTOW! Member, and serves on the Board of Directors for various nonprofits and advisory councils, including the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), Asia Society, Banff World Media Festival, VidCon, and more.

Quotes

• "When you get a seat at the table, you don't just shatter that room's ceiling. You should build your own house and bring everyone in."
• "We are not anti-anyone. We are just pro-everyone."
• "Will we work from a place of power or punishment?"
• "The only way to live forever is to leave something that does."
• "Life is tough but so are we."
• "Representation is not a privilege; it’s a right. Every community deserves to see themselves reflected in the stories we tell."

References

• Vanity Fair: Gold New World
• Vanity Fair: Building Bridges to Tomorrow
• Vanity Fair: Forging a New AAPI Culture
• TIME: Asian Pacific Diaspora Leaders Influence
• AdAge: Bing Chen and Unifying the Idea of Gold House
• Forbes: Gold House’s Glittering Reintroduction of AAPI

• The New York Times: Crazy Rich Asians and Gold Open
• CFDA: Words With Fashion Friends - Bing Chen
• IndieWire: Parasite Sells Out in New York and Los Angeles
• iHeartRadio: Future Legends of Advertising - Michael Kassan and Bing Chen
• Frieze: Bing Chen’s Top 5 Picks at Frieze Los Angeles Viewing Room 2024
• CBS News: Nonprofit Works to Highlight AAPI Diversity in Film and TV
• ABC News: Fans of Crazy Rich Asians and the Gold Open Movement
• Variety: AAPI Diverse Storytelling in a Post-Election Era

• TechCrunch: A $30M Fund Backed by Dozens of Power Players Aims to Empower Founders of Asian Descent
• CNBC: Gold House Launches $30 Million Fund to Invest in Entrepreneurs of Asian Descent
• Adweek: Gold House Debuts Multimillion-Dollar Fund to Promote Asian and Pacific Islander Leadership
• Morgan Stanley: Carla Harris Podcast on AAPI Media Access and Opportunity
• NOSH Notables 2023: Bing Chen, Executive Chair and CEO of Gold House
• WWD: Brooks Brothers and Gold House RIZE for Female Asian Entrepreneurs

• Variety: Gold House Partners with Taiwan Creative Content Fest
• Milken Review: The Next Silicon Valleys
• Tatler Asia: Gold House, Bing Chen, Prabal Gurung, and Kevin Lin
• Variety: Gold House Partners with Taiwan Creative Content Fest (Duplicate)
• Variety: Gold House’s Gold Bridge Initiative with Bing Chen and Jeremy Tran

• Ogilvy: Digital Social Contract
• AdAge: Impact Entrepreneur Bing Chen Laying Foundation for YouTube’s Worldwide Creator Ecosystem
• Tubefilter: YouTube Creator Development Leader Bing Chen Leaving to Join Startup
• UCTV: Bing Chen on the Future of Online Video Content

• Forbes: Serial Entrepreneur Bing Chen: Why I Turned Down Wharton to Study Liberal Arts
• Hollywood Reporter: Lisa Kramer, Bing Chen, Patrick Vien
• HuffPost: Going Against the Flow: Bing Chen
• Lei Travel: The Magical Golden World of Bing Chen