ZH Zhihu Inc

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 13D

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No. )*

Zhihu, Inc.

(Name of Issuer)

Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $0.000125 per share

(Title of Class of Securities)

98955N108*

(CUSIP Number)

Alejandro Moreno

Langhorne S. Perrow

c/o Access Industries, Inc.

40 West 57^th Street, 28th Floor

New York, New York 10019

(212) 247-6400

with copies to:

Matthew E. Kaplan

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

919 Third Avenue

New York, New York 10022

(212) 909-6000

(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

May 5, 2022

(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)

If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of Rules 13d-1(e), 13d-1(f) or 13d-1(g), check the following box.  ☐

CUSIP No. 98955N108

CUSIP No. 98955N108

CUSIP No. 98955N108

CONTINUATION PAGES TO SCHEDULE 13D

This Schedule 13D is being filed by AI Knowledge LLC (“AIK”), Access Industries Management, LLC (“AIM”) and Len Blavatnik (collectively, the “Reporting Persons”, and each, a “Reporting Person”), in respect of the Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.000125 per share (the “Common Shares”), of Zhihu, Inc. (the “Issuer”). The ADSs of the Issuer are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ZH.” Two ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.

Item 1 Security and Issuer

This Schedule 13D relates to the Common Shares of the Issuer. The address of the Issuer’s principal executive office is: A5 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China 100083.

Item 2 Identity and Background

The agreement among the Reporting Persons relating to the joint filing of this Schedule 13D is filed as Exhibit 99.1 hereto.

None of the Reporting Persons has, during the last five years: (i) been convicted in a criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations or similar misdemeanors); or (ii) been a party to a civil proceeding of a judicial or administrative body of competent jurisdiction and as a result of such proceeding was or is subject to a judgment, decree or final order enjoining future violations of, or prohibiting or mandating activities subject to, federal or state securities laws or finding any violation with respect to such laws.

Item 3 Source and Amount of Funds or Other Considerations

On March 26, 2021, AIK purchased 4,600,000 ADSs (representing 2,300,000 Common Shares) in the Issuer’s initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange at the public offering price of $9.50 per share. AIK funded this purchase using capital contributed from affiliated entities, which funded that capital using cash on hand.

Between March 26, 2021 and April 26, 2021, AIK purchased 9,310,501 ADSs (representing 4,655,250.5 Common Shares) for an aggregate purchase price of $79,737,717.80, at prices and on the dates set forth in Schedule A hereto. AIK funded these purchases using capital contributed from affiliated entities, which funded that capital using cash on hand.

On April 22, 2022, AIK purchased 5,900,000 Common Shares in the Issuer’s initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at the public offering price of HK$32.06 per share. AIK funded this purchase using capital contributed from affiliated entities, which funded that capital using cash on hand.

Between April 25, 2022 and May 11, 2022, AIK purchased 7,618,664 ADSs (representing 3,809,332 Common Shares) and 14,400 Common Shares for an aggregate purchase price of $11,618,027.19, at prices and on the dates set forth in Schedule A hereto. AIK funded these purchases using capital contributed from affiliated entities, which funded that capital using cash on hand.

Item 4 Purpose of Transaction

The Reporting Persons who hold Common Shares directly acquired those securities as an investment in the regular course of their businesses. The Reporting Persons and their affiliated individuals may from time to time engage in discussions with management, the Issuer’s board of directors, other stockholders of the Issuer and other relevant parties concerning the business, capital allocation, operations, board composition, management, strategy and future plans of the Issuer. Affiliated individuals of the Reporting Persons have met with, and intend to continue to discuss with, members of management of the Issuer regarding various initiatives that the Reporting Persons believe can generate shareholder value, such as the Issuer’s capital allocation strategies, including share repurchases, and corporate governance, including composition of the Issuer’s board of directors. As part of those discussions, the Reporting Persons and the Issuer may discuss the addition of directors affiliated with the Reporting Persons, among other potential candidates. The Reporting Persons intend to re-examine their investment from time to time and, depending on prevailing market conditions, other investment opportunities, liquidity requirements or other investment considerations the Reporting Persons deem material, the Reporting Persons may from time to time acquire additional Common Shares in the open market, block trades, negotiated transactions, or otherwise and may also dispose of all or a portion of the Issuer’s securities, in open market or privately negotiated transactions, and/or enter into derivative transactions with institutional counterparties with respect to the Issuer’s securities, in each case, subject to limitations under applicable law. The Reporting Persons have not yet determined which, if any, of the above courses of action they may ultimately take. The Reporting Persons’ future actions with regard to the Issuer are dependent on their evaluation of the factors listed above, circumstances affecting the Issuer in the future, including prospects of the Issuer, general market and economic conditions and other factors deemed relevant. The Reporting Persons reserve the right to determine in the future whether to change the purpose or purposes described above or whether to adopt plans or proposals of the type specified above or otherwise.

Item 5 Interest in Securities of the Issuer

(a) and (b) The responses of each of the Reporting Persons with respect to Rows 11, 12, and 13 of the cover pages of this Schedule 13D that relate to the aggregate number and percentage of Common Shares (including but not limited to footnotes to such information) are incorporated herein by reference.

The responses of each of the Reporting Persons with respect to Rows 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the cover pages of this Schedule 13D that relate to the number of Common Shares as to which each of the persons or entities referenced in Item 2 above has sole or shared power to vote or to direct the vote of and sole or shared power to dispose of or to direct the disposition of (including but not limited to footnotes to such information) are incorporated herein by reference.

21,529,165 ADSs (representing 10,764,582.5 Common Shares) and 5,914,400 Common Shares are owned directly by AIK and may be deemed to be beneficially owned by AIM and Mr. Blavatnik because (i) AIM controls AIK and (ii) Mr. Blavatnik controls AIM. Each of the Reporting Persons (other than AIK), and each of their affiliated entities and the officers, partners, members and managers thereof, disclaims beneficial ownership of these securities.

(c) The following transactions in the Issuer’s securities have been effected by Reporting Persons within the 60 days prior to this filing:

The information set forth in Item 3 of this Schedule 13D is incorporated herein by reference.

(d) Not applicable.

(e) Not applicable.

Item 6 Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships With Respect to Securities of the Issuer

Joint Filing Agreement

A Joint Filing Agreement, dated May 16, 2022, by and among the Reporting Persons has been executed by the Reporting Persons, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7 Materials to Be Filed as Exhibits

Schedule A

SIGNATURE

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

Date: May 16, 2022