The firm, called Old Farm Partners, is based in New York and was formed earlier this year by John Barry Purcell, the former chief operating officer of Tsai's Blue Pool Capital. Joining Purcell are partners Kieran Cavanna and Nishi Shah, both of whom were most recently with George Soros's family investing office, Soros Fund Management, the publication said.

Hong Kong-based Blue Pool Capital, controlled by Tsai, is said to manage the funds of other Alibaba Holdings founders. Alibaba's co-founder and CEO, Jack Ma, is worth more than $33 billion.

Tsai’s stake in Alibaba is said to be worth at least $5 billion.

Purcell departed Blue Pool Capital last summer, after the firm stopped taking in external investments and began returning money to existing investors, the publication said.

In the US, there has been a trend of hedge fund firms ceasing to take in non-family wealth and reinvent themselves as family offices in order to avoid coming under the regulatory oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Soros’s own hedge fund business took that root, as did the business of Steven Cohen.