According to a report in the New York Post, Taiwanese-Canadian businessman Joseph Tsai is set to take over 100 per cent ownership of the Brooklyn Nets for a total of $2.35 billion.

The price would the highest ever paid for a sports franchise, topping the $2.2 billion price tags that were recently paid for the Carolina Panthers and Houston Rockets.

The 55-year-old chairman and co-founder of Alibaba, equivalent to Amazon in China, already owns 49 per cent of the Nets - a stake he purchased for $1 billion in 2018. He has the right to buy the other 51 per cent from current majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov for $1.35 billion and The Post believes a deal will be announced this week.

Sources have also told the newspaper that Tsai will be acquiring the Barclays Center and the new Nassau Coliseum in the deal. The NBA encourages its owners to own their own arenas.

The Nets have had a big summer, signing free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The team declined to comment about the report in the Post.

Forbes estimates that Tsai is worth $9.9 billion.