George H.W. Bush Lifetime of Leadership Award

George H.W. Bush Lifetime Leadership Awardee

Joseph Tsai

  • Class
    1986
  • Induction
    2017
  • Sport(s)
    Men's Lacrosse


Joseph Tsai walked on to the men's lacrosse team during his time at Yale, an experience he has called the best of his life.

From 1955 to 1999, Tsai worked in Hong Kong with Investor AB, the main investment vehicle of Sweden's Wallenburg family, where he was responsible for Asain private equity investments. Prior to that, he was vice president and general counsel of Rosecliff Inc., a management buyout firm based in New York. From 1990 to 1993, Tsai was an associate attorney in the tax group of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, a New York-based international law firm.

Tsai helped co-found Alibab, China's - and by some measures the world's - biggest online commerce company. He joined Alibaba.com Limited in 1999, led negotiations in the company's early funding rounds and spearheaded the establishment of the Hong Kong headquarters. 

In addition, Tsai was the key driver behind several landmark transactions in the company's history, including the $7.6 billion repurchase of shares from Yahoo and related restructuring in 2012. 

Tsai is currently vice chairman and co-founder of Alibaba Group, and ranks as its second-largest individual shareholder after chairman Jack Ma. Alibaba's revenue in the twelve months ending in March 2017 rose by 56% to $23 billion.

Tsai also has remained active in the Yale community. He made the lead gift in 2014 to endow the Yale men's lacrosse team and has generously supported other programs at Yale, including the Yale China Law Center, the Yale Law School, the Department of Computer Science, and the Yale Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking. 

In 2017, Tsai reached an agreement to purchase 49% of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association with an option to acquire controlling interest in the team in 2021.
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