Portrait image for Jason Lee

Jason Lee

Continuing Lecturer in Finance; Faculty Advisor, Strategic Management Research
"My objective is to equip students with the insights and tools necessary to make them more successful as managers, investors or entrepreneurs through the combination of theory and practical application."
(213) 268-0107
Areas of Expertise:
  • Corporate Finance
  • Corporate Governance
  • Corporate Strategy
  • Entrepreneurial and Startup Finance
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Performance Measurement and Analysis
  • Private Equity
  • Valuation
  • Venture Capital
About
 

Biography

Jason Lee ('07) is a lecturer in finance and entrepreneurship at UCLA Anderson School of Management. He has more than 25 years of professional experience in investment banking, private equity, venture capital and strategy consulting, and has co-founded a number of entrepreneurial ventures. His teaching focus includes finance, entrepreneurship, private equity, and impact investing.

Outside of campus, Lee is a managing partner of Element, a strategic advisor and investor to companies within the energy and related industries.  He was previously a managing director and portfolio manager of the Power Opportunities Group at Oaktree Capital Management, where he focused on private equity investments in the energy industry and led numerous investments in companies within the renewable energy, energy efficiency, and utility infrastructure, technology and services sectors. Prior to Oaktree, Lee was a founding managing partner of Ascend, a venture consulting and incubation company, and co-founder of Intersphere, a business services company. He also previously served as director of international business development and strategy for Youbet.com, a publicly listed new media company, and CFO of Amerix Group, an international distributor of semiconductor and other electronic components.  Lee serves, and as served, on numerous private and public company boards and board committees.

Lee began his professional career in the investment banking group of JP Morgan, focusing on M&A and corporate finance transactions for companies in the technology, media, consumer retail and industrial sectors. Lee has also been a consultant for a number of years to the government of South Korea on matters pertaining to globalization strategies for the Korean media and entertainment industry and companies, as well as initiatives and policies to support the growth of venture investment and entrepreneurship; he has written several publications in this regard.

"Perhaps more than any other academic discipline, I believe that management studies, in particular at the MBA level, should consider how theory is to be practically applied," Lee says. "I endeavor, therefore, to incorporate my own experiences as a manager, banker and investor, and that of other leading executives, entrepreneurs and investors, into the curricula of my courses."

 

 

Education

B.S. Business Administration, UC Berkeley

MBA Business Administration, UCLA Anderson School of Management