Mr. Lai has successfully built several fast-growing businesses in the Asia Pacific region and Silicon Valley within the TMT sector. He has advised SBIE2 (formerly a SoftBank company) on private placements and guided a client through the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. Previously, he led Facebook’s Telecom Infrastructure Project and directed GSMA, the trade association representing over 800 mobile carriers—through a major strategic pivot that expanded Mobile World Congress Shanghai by 3,658% over seven years.
Leland was part of the 2007 Terayon executive team (Nasdaq: TERN) during its $140 million acquisition by Motorola and contributed to the 2001 IPO of eOn Communications (Nasdaq: EONC). He began his career in 1990 at Hutchison Telecom (SEHK: 2332 / NYSE ADR: HTX).
He holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA and was selected as a Coro Fellow in public policy by The Coro Foundation. Additionally, Leland served in the U.S. Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps and is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licensed pilot as well as an American Sailing Association (ASA) certified bareboat captain.