Alibaba’s Multibillion-Dollar Family Office

Alibaba’s Executive Vice Chairman is Forming a Multibillion-Dollar Family Office

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. executive vice chairman Joseph Tsai is setting up a multibillion-dollar family office to invest the wealth created by the Chinese e-commerce giant’s $25 billion New York initial public offering, people with knowledge the matter told Wall Street Journal.
Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s executive vice chairman, and other early Alibaba executives are setting up the office in Hong Kong with an eye to opening this summer, according to one of the people. Mr. Tsai controls a roughly $6.5 billion stake in Alibaba, based on the company’s prospectus. With the company’s shares now publicly traded and lockups expiring, he and the other executives are looking to diversify their wealth.
The new office marks the arrival on the global investment scene of a new generation of wealthy Chinese business executives who have cashed in on the country’s Internet boom. Entrepreneurs like Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma, one of the wealthiest people in Asia, and smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc.’s Lei Jun, are bringing new ideas about how they want to use their wealth, often backing friends’ technology ventures and supporting a younger crop of investment managers. Asia’s previous generation of billionaires had typically made their fortunes in real estate or mining and focused on investments in other property companies or established global private-equity funds.
Alibaba is China’s largest e-commerce company and its IPO has been a windfall for a number of big backers including Yahoo Inc. and Japan’s SoftBank Corp. Its New York-listing in September catapulted a number of early Alibaba executives to the top ranks of wealthy Chinese.
Source: Wall Street Journal

Related to: Hedge Fund Update

Tags: Hedge Fund of Funds Business, Hedge Fund, Hedge Funds, Fund of Hedge Funds, Hedge Fund of Funds, Hedge Fund Industry, Hedge Fund Group, Hedge Fund Market, Private Equity, Private Equity Firm, Private Equity Group, Private Equity Company, Private Equity Fund, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Joseph Tsai, China, E-Commerce, Chinese E-Commerce Giant, New York, New York Initial Public Offering, IPO, Jack Ma, Asia, Xiaomi Inc., Lei Jun, Yahoo Inc., Japan, SoftBank Corp., Wealthy Chinese.