Taiwanese Canadian businessman Joe Tsai is officially the new owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, which is gearing up for a new season with star players Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov on Friday announced that he sold his remaining 51 percent stake in the team to Tsai, co-founder and executive vice chairman of e-commerce company Alibaba. Prokhorov also sold Tsai the Barclays Center arena, where the Nets play ball.
The total cost of the transaction, including debt on the Barclays Center, was $3.38 billion, sources said.
Tsai — who is worth $9.4 billion, according to Forbes — already owned a 49 percent stake in the team, which be bought last year for $1 billion. He forked over another $1.35 billion for the remaining 51 percent stake.
The $2.35 billion he paid for the Nets marks a record for any sports team.
In the last two years, the Houston Rockets sold for $2.25 billion and the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. Both, like the Nets, are in attractive markets.
Tsai also paid about $700 million for Barclays Center, sources said. And he is also assuming a $325 million loan made against Barclays Center, bringing the total cost of the arena to about $1.025 billion.
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