Forbes 30 Under 30 Takes Another Hit: Inception Capital Wound Down After Founder Disappears For Weeks
Another member of Forbes’ prestigious 30 Under 30 list has become embroiled in controversy. David Gan, founder of the blockchain-focused venture firm Inception Capital, has raised alarm among investors following his sudden disappearance and subsequent reemergence under mysterious circumstances.
Gan, who was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2019 for his work in the cryptocurrency sector, founded Inception Capital in 2021. The firm quickly attracted nearly $100 million in assets from high-profile investors, including billionaire Bill Ackman and Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan.
However, the young entrepreneur’s promising career took an unexpected turn in May 2024 when he informed investors that his father, a retired high-ranking Chinese government official, was under investigation. Gan announced his intention to travel to China and subsequently went silent for several weeks, leaving investors in the dark, according to Fortune which cited some of the company’s investors.
In Gan’s absence, Inception’s limited partners voted to wind down the fund. Gan has since resurfaced and agreed to relinquish certain key responsibilities within the firm. He maintains that the fund is “thriving” and that he has resumed his day-to-day role.
The firm plans to propose a new strategy to its investors in October. The strategy would allow its LP to invest the remaining capital. However, the incident has led Inception to reduce its staff by half. The firm has also since hired new deal analysts.
The Forbes 30 under 30 list, once celebrated for featuring promising young talent across various industries, has produced a growing list of questionable characters, the most high-profile ones being convicted fraudsters FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.
Read: Forbes Reveals Its Hall of Shame, Names ‘Most Dubious People’ To Make Their Annual 30 Under 30 List
In August, another alumnus ran into some, well, issues. Al-Naji, the founder of BitClout, was been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission with wire fraud and the sale of unregistered securities.
Read: Another Forbes 30 Under 30 Alumnus Faces Legal Trouble
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