NEWS
ALIBABA CO-FOUNDER JOE TSAI INVESTED IN BURGUNDY GRAND CRU CLIMATS
By Susan Lewis
10-9-2024
Source: Alibaba
Chairman and co-founder of China e-commerce giant Alibaba, Joe Tsai, has invested in acquisition of grand cru climats in the Cote de Nuits area of Burgundy, according to Bloomberg news agency.
An avid wine collector, Tsai was involved in the production of a 2019 documentary film by Marie-Ange Gorbanevsky called L’Ame du Vin, or the Soul of Wine, that features vineyards in the area where he invested.
Tsai was also among business executives who were invited for lunch to the Elysee Palace by President Emmanuel Macron just before the Paris Olympics got underway in July.
The Bloomberg report said the properties that Tsai has a stake in do not produce their own wine, but are located in Gevrey-Chambertin in the Cote de Nuits area, which is known as the Champs-Elysees of Burgundy.
Many wines from that region carry the highest “Grand Cru” appellation and can retail for hundreds of Euros a bottle if not more.
Also in the Cote de Nuits is LVMH-controlled Clos des Lambrays and the Pinaults’ Clos de Tart, acquired in 2017 for a reported €220million (USD200m) after Francois Pinault out-manoeuvred Jack Ma, another Alibaba co-founder, to take control.
The parcels Tsai was reported to have invested are in Grand Cru climats known as Charmes-Chambertin, Mazoyeres-Chambertin and Ruchottes-Chambertin.
According to Wine-searcher, these climats are among the lesser known of Gevrey-Chambertin's lesser-known Grand Cru sites. They are planted with Pinot Noir that produces some of the softer red wines from Gevrey-Chambertin's stretch of Grand Cru vineyards.
Bloomberg said land registry data shows one parcel sold in 2021 for about €18m. It’s not clear how much Tsai has invested in total.
A Canadian citizen born in Taiwan, Tsai has a net worth of about USD6.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, partly derived from his 1.4 percent stake in Alibaba.
A Yale University alumnus, Bloomberg said Tsai quit his USD700,000-a-year job at the investment firm Investor in the late 1990s to join Alibaba for a monthly salary of USD50.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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