According to reports, Hornets’ Michael Jordan and Nets’ Joe Tsai are among the top investors in the NBA owners’ combined $10 billion investment in China beyond the league’s $5 billion business in the country.
According to the Daily Mail;
Forty principal owners in the NBA reportedly have more than a combined $10 billion tied up in China – investments that have significant impact on the valuation of the teams.
Between the personal investments and NBA China having grown into a $5 billion business, ‘the China value of each of the league’s 30 teams [is] an estimated $150 million,’ according to ESPN, which commissioned the New York firm Strategy Risks to conduct an assessment.
NBA owners invested in China reportedly include the Charlotte Hornets’ Michael Jordan, the Brooklyn Nets’ Joe Tsai, and the Miami Heat’s Micky Arison.
The story discusses the scrutiny put on the NBA and its owners since then-Houston general manager Daryl Morey’s controversial tweet in October 2019 in support of Hong Kong protesters. The NBA playoffs returned to state-run TV in China just this season after a near three-year ban as a result of Morey’s tweet.
The tweet cost the league and owners hundreds of millions and dollars while they worked to repair the damage, per ESPN. The story shines light on the reticence of the league and its owners to speak out against human-rights abuses perpetrated by the authoritarian regime.
‘Nobody really wants their name associated with China, but what can they do?’ attorney Dan Harris of firm Harris Bricken told ESPN. ‘They’re sort of betwixt and between. If they say what Americans want them to say, it’s death in China. If they say what China wants, it’s death in America.’
Here are the NBA owners and their investments in china;
Tsai, the Nets owner and co-founder of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, has the most money tied up in China, 53.3 percent of his reported $8 billion net worth, according to ESPN.
Second is Sacramento Kings co-owner Paul Jacobs at 30 percent, per the ESPN report.
The most prominent NBA owner is Jordan, whose extensive business ties to Nike leave him with an estimated $85 million in exposure in China, according to the ESPN report.
Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera is the founder of Ubiquiti, a wireless equipment manufacturer, which manufactures in southern China and reportedly derives about 10 percent of its revenue from Asia. His reported exposure in China is $369 million, according to ESPN.
Rockets owner and restauranteur Tilman Fertitta operates 10 businesses in China, generating an estimated $57 million annually. Arison, the Heat owner, reportedly has $375 million tied up in China through the team and his business, Carnival Cruises.
Other NBA owners are invested in China through private equity or venture capital firms, according to Strategy Risks, including 76ers boss Josh Harris, whose Apollo Global management has subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
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