The Future of the Metaverse in Asia: HKUST Business School in Dialogue with WSJ

Mr. Yat SIU
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Animoca Brands
Founder and CEO, Outblaze

Veteran technology entrepreneur/investor Yat Siu is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, a global leader in blockchain and gaming with the goal to provide property rights for virtual assets. Yat began his career at Atari Germany, then established Hong Kong Cybercity/Freenation, the first free web page and email provider in Asia. In 1998 he set up Outblaze, an award-winning pioneer of multilingual white label web services. After selling one of its business units to IBM, he pivoted Outblaze to incubate digital entertainment projects. One of those projects is Animoca Brands.

Yat has numerous accolades, including Global Leader of Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum, Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the DHL/SCMP Awards, and recognition as one of Cointelegraph's top 100 notable people in blockchain. A classically trained musician, Yat is a member of the advisory board of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and a director of the Asian Youth Orchestra.

Professor Allen HUANG
Associate Dean (UG Programs)
HKUST Business School

Professor Allen HUANG is the Associate Dean (UG Programs) and an Associate Professor in Accounting at the School of Business and Management of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST Business School). He is also the Associate Director of the Center of Business and Social Analytics and Faculty Associate at the Institute for Emerging Market Studies and IAS Center for Quantum Technologies.

Professor Huang’s research focusses on issues relating to natural language processing in financial text, earnings management, financial analyst, accounting fraud, and securities litigation. His work has been published in numerous top-tier business journals and featured in various media outlets. Professor Huang currently teaches Big Data and AI in Business, Cryptocurrency and Blockchain, and Managerial Accounting at various Executive Education, EMBA, MBA and undergraduate programs at HKUST.

Prior to pursuing an academic career, Professor Huang worked as a quantitative equity analyst in Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. He holds a PhD from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree from Peking University.

Ms. Karen HAO
Reporter
The Wall Street Journal

Karen Hao is a Hong Kong-based reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering China tech and society. She was previously a senior editor for artificial intelligence at MIT Technology Review, where her work earned several awards, including an ASME Next, and Congressional citations. She has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT and worked in Silicon Valley prior to journalism.

Ms. Yumiko ONO
Editor, News Operations, APAC
The Wall Street Journal

Yumiko Ono is Editor of News Operations in APAC for The Wall Street Journal based in Singapore. Her responsibilities include operations for the newsroom across the Asia region, newsroom events and local-language services.