“Terbish” is a Mongolian name that means “not that”. It is an avoidance name given to a child to avert misfortune according to Mongolian tradition. I chose it as the name for the company I use for my advisory work many years ago because of my love of Mongolia and because I was hoping to do something different and distinctive ... “not that” in other words. Terbish Partners is the company I do my work through and terbish.com is my site.

Sean Hinton is a senior investment and strategy executive and board director with over 30-years’ experience of leading growth, globalization and social impact. He has lived and worked in China (2007–2016) and Mongolia (1988–1995) as well as Australia, U.S.A. and the U.K. in a wide range of sectors including investment, finance, real estate, energy, mining and media. Sean’s track record spans the business cycle from leading startups to running IPO’s, and he brings deep cross-cultural experience in corporate governance, government affairs and corporate social responsibility. He has served on public and private boards as well as on private equity and venture capital fund investment committees.

Sean is Chair of the Board of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in the world and one of the most modern, safe and sustainable mining operations globally. Oyu Tolgoi is a joint-venture between Rio Tinto LLC and the Government of Mongolia. He is also a senior advisor to corporations, investors and philanthropies on their strategic impact.

Prior to this Sean was the CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) and Director of the Economic Justice Program at the Open Society Foundations, one of the world’s largest private foundations. From 2015–2022 he led the team that makes and manages a global portfolio of private equity and debt investments, and a philanthropic grant-making and policy advocacy program that he formed, with a budget of more than $100m/year.

His past board roles have included Chairman of Global Access Health, a biotech company that works to expand access to affordable state-of-the-art medical technology and diagnostics; and Deputy-Chairman of SouthGobi Resources (TSX: SGQ, HK: 1878), where he led the turnaround of a distressed Hong Kong and Vancouver dual-listed coal mining company. He served for more than 8 years on the boards of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, and the International Advisory Board of the Baha’i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland. He currently serves on the board of Nature Finance (a Swiss non-profit where he serves as a founder member of the Board of Directors), and BASED UK (a UK charity focused on social and economic development learning and action).

Sean has been a long-term senior advisor to Goldman Sachs (Asia), and the Rio Tinto group on their social impact strategies.

He began his career at McKinsey & Company, specialising in strategy and growth in the media and entertainment practice, followed by a stint as Managing Director of Ealing Studios - the world’s oldest film studio.

Sean is an Executive-in-Residence at University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School; a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute; a member of the British Academy of Film Television Arts (BAFTA); and served as Mongolia’s Honorary Consul-General in Australia. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the University of Cambridge, and the MIT Sloan School of Management.