Joseph Tsai Rumors
The letter is part of a broader campaign that has called on private equity firms, investment managers and pension funds to divest from companies that operate in correctional facilities and profit from mass incarceration. Those efforts have intensified after the killing of George Floyd in May became a catalyst for protests against systemic racism in the U.S. criminal-justice system. “If Black Lives Matter, what are you doing about Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores?” reads the ad, which is addressed to other club owners including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder Joseph Tsai, former Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer and NBA legend Michael Jordan. “Mr. Gores continues to amass wealth and benefit from a system that exploits Black people and profits from their pain,” Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, the organization that placed the ad, wrote in a Dec. 10 letter seen by Bloomberg.
Nets Daily: According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Nets @Joe Tsai lost $1 billion of net worth today. (Actually $995 million) Alibaba stock dropped by 8% because China regulators suddenly suspended stock sale in Alibaba spinoff, Ant Financial. No word on if/when it’ll be reinstated.
Nets Daily: According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Nets owner @Joe Tsai this week moved on to its list of the world’s 100 richest people … now with a net worth of $16 billion.
Norman Oder, critic and chronicler of Barclay Center and adjoining Pacific Park, reports that Joe Tsai has paid out nearly $6 million to arena workers since the pandemic hit … and will continue to pay them at least through the end of the year. Oder found the information in public documents provided by Tsai’s company which operates the arena under an agreement with New York State.
Tsai agreed to pay the workers, among the first NBA arena owners to do so, on March 14, three days after the NBA shut down because of the pandemic. There was no formal announcement by Tsai or the arena, with most of the detail coming from union officials who praised Tsai’s efforts. The original pledge was made for three months, then extended again in June. Now, comes the latest extension — again with no formal announcement, just a notation in the annual report, an obscure document the operating company provides arena bondholders.
Oder did some quick math and figured that as long as payments remain consistent, the cost to Tsai through the end of the year will amount to just short of $10 million. “Over the remaining six months, or 182 days, assuming the same rate of pay—not a given, as noted below—the arena would spend nearly $10 million, or $9,995,122.75,” noted Oder. There was no indication whether benefit will end of December 31. As Oder noted, other documents seem to indicate the decision is made on a quarter basis.
