Joe Tsai Co-founder & Chair of Alibaba | In Good Company | Norges Bank Investment Management

Today we have a special guest visiting—uh, called Joe Tsai—chair and co-founder of one of the world's largest companies, with more than 1 billion consumers, called Alibaba—a giantA very large and powerful company or organization..

In e-commerce, digital payments, cloud computing, entertainment, and much more, we ownTo have legal possession of something almost 2% of the company.

And you know what?

Joe is also a huge sports fan—and you even own a basketball team: the Brooklyn Nets.

So great to have you here, Joe—and lots to talk about.

Thanks for having me, Nikolai.

Wonderful!

Now let's start with the beginning—just to get to know you a bit.

You were born in Taiwan, but when you were 13, you moved to the US.

So how was that transitionThe process of changing from one state or condition to another.?

It was an extraordinaryVery unusual or remarkable transition.

I uh came from a very different cultureThe ideas.

I grew up in a very Chinese environment and went to a Chinese school, so I barelyAlmost not spoke English when I landed in New Jersey in the United States at age 13.

So I went to a boarding school.

I thought the best way for me to integrateTo become part of a group or society and feel comfortable there. and be friends with everyone was to play a lot of sports.

I tried out for a lot of teams.

I got cutTo remove someone from a team or group because they are not good enough. from the baseball team.

Were you any good?

I wasn't good skill-wise in baseball, but I was fairly athleticGood at sports and had some speed.

Right—I was fast.

So I tried out for football—American football—I played American football on the varsityRelating to the main team representing a school or university. team—and also played lacrosse in high school—and then went on to play lacrosse in college.

Okay.

Who were the formativeHaving a strong influence on the development of something people in your upbringing?

My father—he is one of the most brilliant, one of the most sharp-minded people I know—but he's very tough.

I feared my father.

Do you still fear him?

I still—well, he's no longer alive—is he still kind of a bit of a ghostA person who is dead and believed to appear as a spirit in your life?

still well he's no longer is he still kind of a bit

of bit of ghost in your life still bit of a ghost