陳天橋夫婦捐資美國大腦研究

A billionaire couple who pioneered internet games in China are donating $115m to the California Institute of Technology for brain research in an effort to help humans accept mortality.

身為中國互聯(lián)網(wǎng)游戲先驅(qū)的一對億萬富豪夫婦向加州理工學(xué)院(Caltech)捐贈1.15億美元用于大腦研究，目的是幫助人類接受死亡。

The gift by Tianqiao Chen and Chrissy Luo, founders of Shanda — which began life as an online games developer before transforming into an investment group with stakes in Lending Club and Legg Mason — underlines the increasingly prominent role played by mainland Chinese entrepreneurs in global philanthropy.

盛大(Shanda)創(chuàng)始人陳天橋和雒芊芊(Chrissy Luo)的這筆捐贈突顯中國大陸企業(yè)家在全球慈善事業(yè)中扮演越來越重要的角色。盛大最初是一家網(wǎng)絡(luò)游戲開發(fā)商，后來轉(zhuǎn)型為一家投資集團，持有Lending Club和美盛(Legg Mason)股份。

“How can we cure death? That is the key of our philanthropy vision,” Mr Chen told the Financial Times. Understanding how the brain and mind worked would enable people to master emotions such as pain and fear.

“我們?nèi)绾沃斡劳?這是我們慈善愿景的關(guān)鍵，”陳天橋?qū)τ督鹑跁r報》表示。了解大腦和思維如何工作，將使人們能夠駕馭疼痛和恐懼等情緒。

“Why can’t we accept death?” he said. “Because of fear, because of pain — all the negative perception.”

“為什么我們不能接受死亡?”他說。“因為恐懼，因為疼痛——所有這些負(fù)面的觀感。”

The gift, which includes endowed funds, will create a neuroscience institute at Caltech named after the couple. They say it is intended for pure research, the direction of which will be decided by the university.

包括捐贈資金的這份禮物將在加州理工學(xué)院創(chuàng)建一個以這對夫婦命名的神經(jīng)科學(xué)研究所。他們表示，該所將開展純研究，具體方向?qū)⒂尚７經(jīng)Q定。

This will include building a $200m biosciences facility at the university in Pasadena, California. Caltech is contributing resources to the project.

這將包括在位于加州帕薩迪納(Pasadena)的這所大學(xué)建造一座2億美元的生物科學(xué)設(shè)施。加州理工學(xué)院將為該項目貢獻資源。

Thomas Rosenbaum, Caltech president, said the university and the couple shared a vision of translating scientific insights into the brain into a “deeper understanding of how human beings perceive and interact with the world”.

加州理工學(xué)院院長托馬斯•羅森鮑姆(Thomas Rosenbaum)表示，該校和這對夫婦共享一個愿景，那就是把對大腦的科學(xué)洞察轉(zhuǎn)化為“對于人類如何感知世界、如何與世界互動的更深入理解”。

The initiative is the latest high-profile donation to elite US universities by a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs.

此舉是中國新一代企業(yè)家向美國精英大學(xué)作出高調(diào)捐贈的最新一例。

Chinese Ivy League graduates such as Neil Shen of Sequoia China have been generous donors to their alma maters. Zhang Xin, the real estate mogul, and Pan Shiyi, her husband, signed a $15m gift agreement with Harvard in 2014.

常春藤大學(xué)的中國畢業(yè)生，如紅杉中國(Sequoia China)的沈南鵬(Neil Shen)，已向各自的母?？犊栀洝７康禺a(chǎn)大亨張欣和她的丈夫潘石屹在2014年與哈佛大學(xué)(Harvard)簽訂1500萬美元的“SOHO中國助學(xué)金”協(xié)議。

In May, Charles Chen Yidan, Tencent co-founder, launched a $7.6m annual award aimed at recognising outstanding research in education.

今年5月，騰訊(Tencent)聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人陳一丹(Charles Chen)發(fā)起了一項760萬美元的年度獎，旨在表彰杰出的教育研究。

Mr Chen, 43, and his wife, 40, founded their business together in 1999 and have a fortune of $3.43bn, according to the Hurun Report’s annual China Rich List.

現(xiàn)年43歲的陳天橋和40歲的妻子在1999年創(chuàng)業(yè)。根據(jù)《胡潤中國百富榜》(Hurun China Rich List)，他們的身價達到34.3億美元。

Nasdaq-listed Shanda Interactive became the largest Chinese games company by market capitalisation in 2004, later spinning off its games unit Shanda Games in a separate US initial public offering that raised $1.04bn — the biggest US public offering for a Chinese internet business at the time.

在納斯達克(Nasdaq)上市的盛大互動(Shanda Interactive)在2004年成為中國市值最大的游戲公司，該公司后來剝離其游戲部門盛大游戲(Shanda Games)，將其在美國進行首次公開發(fā)行(IPO)，募得10.4億美元，當(dāng)時這是中國互聯(lián)網(wǎng)企業(yè)在美國最大規(guī)模上市。

Shanda Group sold its stake in Shanda Games in 2014. The privately owned Singapore-based investment group has about $8bn in net assets under management, according to Mr Chen’s LinkedIn profile.

盛大集團(Shanda Group)于2014年出售其在盛大游戲所持股份。根據(jù)陳天橋的領(lǐng)英(LinkedIn)個人資料，這家總部位于新加坡的私有投資集團旗下管理著大約80億美元凈資產(chǎn)。

As well as its substantial stakes in US public companies, Shanda Group is an investor in ElMindA, an Israeli start-up specialising in medical technology analysing brain function, and SpaceVR, a US start-up that aims to offer virtual reality space tourism.

除了在美國一些上市公司持有大筆股份，盛大集團還投資于ElMindA(以色列初創(chuàng)企業(yè)，專業(yè)開發(fā)分析大腦功能的醫(yī)療技術(shù))和SpaceVR(美國初創(chuàng)企業(yè)，有志提供虛擬現(xiàn)實太空旅游)。

The couple plans to hire a chief scientist for Shanda Group to help direct future charitable giving and say the philanthropic support for brain research dovetails with an investment interest in technology that interfaces between computers and people.

這對夫婦計劃為盛大集團聘請一位首席科學(xué)家，由其幫助指導(dǎo)未來的慈善捐贈，他們表示，對大腦研究的慈善支持，與他倆對計算機與人類之間接口技術(shù)的投資興趣相吻合。

“Our philanthropy is to find out the secret of the brain, but our technology is to leverage our brain,” Mr Chen said.

“我們的慈善事業(yè)是了解大腦的秘密，但我們的技術(shù)是利用我們的大腦，”陳天橋說。