Breakaway Capital

Warren Woo serves as Chief Investment Officer and Managing General Partner at Breakaway Capital Management Holdings, directing the Cherng Family Trust's investment activities. He co-founded the office in 2014 alongside Mike Connolly, a former Partner at Leonard Green & Partners, who is also a founding partner. The principals operate with a dual mandate: they manage the family's pool of capital and also structure co-investment vehicles for transactions.

Breakaway sources through the professional networks of its principals, who have prior investment banking and private equity backgrounds at firms like Moelis & Company, Monroe Capital, and Leonard Green & Partners. The family's operating company relationships and presence in professional networks such as Opus Connect and YPO further supplement origination. The firm focuses on lower-middle-market situations that are often intermediated through relationship-driven channels.

No. While the firm functions as a single-family office stewarding the Cherng Family Trust, the management company structure enables external co-investors to participate in specific transactions. This hybrid model allows Breakaway to lead recapitalizations and buyouts in which the Cherng family's capital is deployed alongside that of third parties, as seen in the Art Brand Studios transaction with Next Point Capital.

Breakaway maintains a dual allocation: it actively pursues control and minority equity positions in privately held companies, alongside a substantial commercial real estate portfolio. Real estate assets include hospitality properties such as the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, as well as office and retail holdings in California, Texas, and Hawaii. The two activities appear to be managed within the same direct-investment framework rather than through separate fund structures.

Breakaway's primary orientation is direct investing, encompassing private equity, growth, and private credit transactions. However, it also maintains a fund-of-funds allocation as part of the Cherng Family Trust's diversified mandate. The exact split between direct and fund commitments has not been publicly disclosed, though direct, deal-led activity defines its market-facing presence through the Breakaway Capital Management brand.

The Cherng family's philanthropic activities are conducted through separate entities, the Panda Cares Foundation and the Panda Charitable Family Foundation, which are not managed by Breakaway Capital. Philanthropy is focused on education, health, and disaster relief, and is funded primarily by Panda Restaurant Group rather than the investment activities of the family office.

Breakaway actively co-invests alongside external general partners, particularly in lower-middle-market recapitalizations and restructurings. The partnership with Next Point Capital on the Art Brand Studios deal demonstrates a willingness to serve as both a lead and a co-investor, depending on the transaction structure. The firm's private credit activities further allow it to participate alongside sponsor-led financings.