Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai buys minority stake in Brooklyn Nets
Alibaba co-founder and executive vice chairman, Joseph Tsai is to purchase a 49% minority stake in the NBA team Brooklyn Nets with an option to become majority owner in four years.
Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai buys 49% minority stakes in Brooklyn Nets
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov will continue to be the primary operating owner of the Nets till that time.
As reported by ESPN, the buying price will be based on a $2.3bn valuation of the team. The selling price will surpass the NBA-record $2.2bn that Tilman Fertitta recently paid to acquire the Houston Rockets.
The deal doesn't include the acquisition of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Prokhorov continues to own the center and it's expected that a new long-term lease for the Nets will be negotiated soon, the report added.
It's been suggested this step by Jospeh Tsai might boost Alibaba's intention of dominating the sports realm globally. Alisports, the sports arm of the e-commerce giant, has invested $100m into Chinese rugby as part of a joint initiative with the sport’s global governing body to grow the game in Asia over the next decade.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma recently outlined new strategy to develop 'Alibaba economy'.