Gene Yu is the CEO of Blackpanda Group, a special risk insurance and consulting company with a presence in Hong Kong, Singapore and Manila. Gene graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in Computer Studies in the top 5% of his class, and was also the Brigade Open Boxing Middleweight Champion. After graduating, Gene served in Korea and Japan as a U.S. Army Armor officer and Special Forces officer (Green Beret). Gene deployed for two tours in the southern Philippines and two tours in Iraq as a special forces commander, leading teams ranging from 2-3 men to 500 men on over 200 combat missions. He also spent numerous months in various other countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia on clandestine missions.

After leaving military service in 2009, Gene studied international economics at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and prior to founding Blackpanda, worked at Palantir Technologies and Credit Suisse. Gene is also the author of the three-volume, semi-fictional book series titled “Yellow Green Beret: Stories of an Asian-American Stumbling Around U.S. Army Special Forces”.