Thong Le

Thong Q. Le joined the Gates Foundation in December 2024 and serves as Investment Director and Managing Partner of the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF), the Foundation’s impact investment arm.  In this role, he leads the use of equity, debt, guarantees, and other investment tools to advance the Foundation’s philanthropic goals.  Thong brings more than 25 years of investment and leadership experience across the life sciences industry, with a track record of building companies, making impact-oriented investments, and developing investment strategies designed to improve lives.

Prior to joining the Gates Foundation, Thong served as Senior Managing Director and CEO of Accelerator Life Science Partners (ALSP), a venture capital firm focused on creating and developing next-generation life sciences companies.  After joining ALSP in 2013, he helped shape the firm’s strategy and led its expansion beyond the Pacific Northwest.  He also served as a director and founding President & CEO of more than a dozen ALSP portfolio companies, including Petra Pharma (acquired by a global pharmaceutical company in 2020); Rodeo Therapeutics (acquired by Amgen Inc. for up to $721 million in 2021); and Lodo Therapeutics (acquired by Zymergen in 2021, now Ginko Bioworks).

Before joining ALSP, Thong spent nearly 15 years as Managing Director of WRF Capital, the venture investment arm of the Washington Research Foundation, where he invested in and supported the growth of early-stage life sciences and technology companies.

Thong received his A.B. in Government from Harvard University and undertook postgraduate studies in business at Templeton College, Oxford University.