Despite the U.S. government taking a stronger stance toward China, one of the largest owners of American private schools is controlled by a firm chaired by Fred Hu, a self-described Chinese nationalist popularly known as “Red Fred.”

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The Spring Educational Group operates 240 schools across 19 states, owning everything from a series of Montessori schools in Southern California to a network of private schools in New York, Washington, and Virginia.

Little was said about the investment until 2019, when more than 190 New York City families asked school leaders if the new ownership meant higher tuition. More scrutiny followed in 2023 after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) removed Spring Education from the state’s scholarship funds, saying it had “direct ties” to the Chinese Communist Party.

Spring Education is owned by Primavera Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm with a massive financial footprint. This includes stakes in ecommerce giant Alibaba, TikTok owner ByteDance, Palantir, and Yum China, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut in China.

Hu is a public business figure on both sides of the Pacific, having held positions within the International Monetary Fund and World Economic Forum. While his professional resume is highly visible, Hu has largely kept his political views and affiliations private, even as his financial ascent has unfolded alongside China’s economic rise.

Born in 1963 in Toalin Temple Town in Hunan Province, Hu came of age during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, when the CCP sought to purge capitalism from China.

In an interview with Changsha Daily, Hu said the “idealistic elements in the revolutionary tradition” influenced him. A self-described nationalist with an emphasis on Chinese identity, he pursued a master’s degree in engineering science from........

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