Former chairman returns to Ideanomics
Planning of West Hartford campus continues
Ideanomics, the global financial technology company planning a sweeping West Hartford campus, has seen its second leadership shake-up in recent months with the return of Bruno Wu as chairman.
Wu has served as a special adviser to the board of Ideanomics since November, but previously was CEO and chairman of the China- and New York-based company. In his place, co-CEO Brett McGonegal became the sole chief executive officer, and Alex Yao, managing partner of an investment firm, became chairman of the board. Wu is returning after a period of serving as vice chairman and secretary general of t he National Committee for China U.S. relations, according to a Thursday news release.
Throughout the transitions, Wu has remained the largest shareholder of Ideanomics, which is working to redevelop UConn’s old West Hartford campus into a financial technology and innovation hub called Fintech Village.
McGonegal is now leaving the company to “pursue other interests,” the news release said. In his place, former chief operational officer Alf Poor will become the new CEO.
Earlier this month, Poor said Ideanomics will likely delay the opening of Fintech Village until next year because of the complex job of remediating the 58-acre property on Asylum Avenue.
The company bought the campus from UConn for $5.2 million, and plans to spend several million more to address environmental issues on the campus, including contamination from PCBs, a carcinogenic chemical compound found in old building materials.
Despite the delays, Poor said Ideanomics is entertaining numerous potential partners and tenants for its development. And Wu said Thursday the company is “well-positioned for growth and profitability” on the back of recent deals, most of which are centered in China.
“We’re delighted to welcome Bruno back. Having him with us full-time is a tremendous boost for the company as his tenacity, vision and breadth of relationships worldwide are a key dynamic of the organization,” Poor said.
Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.