Joseph Tsai

Joseph Chung-Hsin Tsai (born 1 January 1964), nicknamed Joe Tsai, is a Taiwanese-Canadian-Hong Kong entrepreneur and lawyer. Born in Taipei, Taiwan Province, Republic of China, with family roots in Shuanglin, Nanxun District, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, he holds ROC, Canadian, and Hong Kong SAR citizenship and is a permanent resident of Hong Kong SAR. A member of a family of lawyers from Shanghai, he emigrated to the United States in his teens and qualified as a New York State lawyer. He is the Executive Chairman of the Alibaba Group and purchased a controlling stake in the NBA's Brooklyn Nets for US$2 billion. He also serves as Global Advisor to the International Academy of Excellence.

Early life and education

His grandfather, Paul L. Tsai, was a Shanghai lawyer who relocated to Taipei with the Nationalist government in 1949 and practiced law there. His father, Paul C. Tsai, grew up in Shanghai, moved to Taiwan in 1948, and earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1957. Together, they founded the Tsai & Tsai Law Offices in Taipei in 1965. Joseph Tsai attended Fuxing Elementary and Middle School in Taipei before emigrating to the United States at age 13. He received his B.A. in Economics and J.D. from Yale University.

Career

After graduating from Yale Law in 1990, Tsai joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a tax attorney. In 1993, he worked at the private equity firm Rosecliff Inc. He moved to Hong Kong in 1995 to become Vice President and Senior Investment Manager for Asia-Pacific at Investor AB.

In 1999, when Investor AB participated in a funding round for Alibaba, Tsai met Jack Ma and joined Alibaba as CFO. He secured US$5 million from Goldman Sachs and established Alibaba's financial systems. During the dot‑com bust in 2000, he obtained US$20 million from SoftBank, ensuring Alibaba’s survival, and in 2003 he founded Taobao with RMB 100 million. The company raised further capital in 2004 and merged with Yahoo China in 2005.

In 2018, Tsai acquired a 49% stake in the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets for US$1 billion, with an option to purchase the remaining shares within three years. In 2019, he acquired the remaining 51% from Mikhail Prokhorov for US$1.35 billion, becoming the majority owner. Tsai also purchased the WNBA’s New York Liberty in January 2019.

In 2021, Hong Kong land registry records show Tsai as tenant of two Deep Water Bay houses owned by the Jardine family, paying HKD 440,000 per month for the first three years and HKD 457,600 thereafter.

In October 2021, the Pandora Papers revealed Tsai’s involvement with dozens of offshore companies holding Alibaba equity. Investigations by The Toronto Star and Stand News detailed his use of these entities in corporate transactions and dividend distributions.

In April 2022, ESPN reported on Tsai’s dual role in American sports advocacy and support for the Chinese government’s policies, citing anonymous NBA insiders and China experts.

In September 2023, Tsai was appointed Chairman of Alibaba Holding Group, succeeding Daniel Zhang.

Personal life

In 1996, Tsai married Clara Wu in Taipei. They have three children: two sons and a daughter, Alexandra. Clara Wu descends from the prominent Tainan business family; her grandfather was Wu San-lien, founder of Tainan Textile and former Mayor of Taipei. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.