Is DeepSeek Considering Hillhouse’s Post-90s Partner, Yan Wentao, as Its New CFO to Speed Up Capitalization and Counter Talent Loss?

According to IT Times Network, Yan Wentao, a post-90s partner at Hillhouse Capital, is rumored to be joining DeepSeek, a prominent Chinese large language model firm, as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He is anticipated to assume the role shortly, with sources confirming that Yan Wentao has commenced his resignation process at Hillhouse.

Recently, Reuters, citing informed sources, reported that DeepSeek has enlisted CITIC Securities to facilitate its domestic listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company plans to commence the listing process this year, targeting an official debut in 2027.

Yan Wentao, born in 1991, is a newly minted partner at Hillhouse Capital and a notable figure among the younger generation of investors at the firm. In 2025, he was recognized as one of the Top 50 Nova Rising Star Investors by China Venture. His portfolio includes notable projects such as MiniMax, Zhipu, Webull, J&T Express, and Zongteng Group.

According to IT Home, sources reveal that leaders from several top-tier domestic firms, including 5Y Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Longzhu Capital, have held discussions with Liang Wenfeng regarding the CFO position. Many industry insiders speculate that these discussions serve as a pretext for networking and communication, or even to explore potential investment avenues. Furthermore, sources close to DeepSeek disclosed that Liang Wenfeng is keen on appointing a post-90s individual as CFO.

Apart from Yan Wentao, Liang Wenfeng has also engaged with several key figures from leading domestic institutions. In the eyes of industry experts, the allure of this position stems equally from DeepSeek’s industry standing and its impending capitalization journey.

According to View Network, prior to DeepSeek’s rise to prominence, the company had consistently shunned external capital, with R&D investments primarily funded by Liang Wenfeng and the Fantuan Quant system. Market data indicates that Fantuan Quant’s management scale reached approximately 70 billion yuan in 2025, with an average return rate of 56.6%, yielding roughly 39.6 billion yuan in returns for clients.

However, the landscape shifted in 2026. From late May to June of this year, DeepSeek secured its first significant external funding since inception, raising approximately 7.4 billion US dollars. Investors included Tencent, CATL, the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, as well as NetEase, JD.com, and IDG Capital. Liang Wenfeng personally invested around 20 billion yuan, Tencent about 10 billion yuan, and the CATL system approximately 5 billion yuan.

In July of this year, DeepSeek initiated discussions for a new round of financing, with a target valuation at one point reaching approximately 500 billion yuan. Additionally, market speculation suggests that DeepSeek aims to expand its team to 1,000 members this year.

According to multiple sources within the financial and investment sectors, although the CFO position at DeepSeek remains unfilled, many within the industry consider it a foregone conclusion. Previously, DeepSeek operated without a CFO. As early as February 2025, the company began publicly recruiting for the role, and as of June this year, it continued to post financial team recruitment advertisements on its official website, including for the CFO position.

Earlier, DeepSeek’s delayed financing and commercialization efforts left employees’ stock options without external valuation benchmarks, causing them to stagnate or even lose value. Meanwhile, Zhipu, the “first large language model stock” to go public, witnessed its stock price surge post-listing, reaching a peak of 2,980 Hong Kong dollars per share, with a market capitalization exceeding one trillion Hong Kong dollars—a more than 2,400% increase from its listing price of 116.2 Hong Kong dollars on January 8. Subsequently listed MiniMax also experienced a significant market value rise.

Amid intense poaching by major players offering lucrative salaries and stock options, DeepSeek suffered the loss of key personnel. Luo Fuli, a pivotal contributor to DeepSeek V3, was lured away by Xiaomi with an annual salary in the tens of millions. Guo Daya, a core researcher on R1, defected to ByteDance with a compensation package nearing 100 million yuan. Wang Bingxuan, the lead author of the first-generation large language model, moved to Tencent.

Now, the responsibility for financing DeepSeek falls on Yan Wentao’s shoulders.