• Justin Hakuta is a businessman, entrepreneur and husband of Ali Wong, the comedian.
• He is the son of successful business guru and TV personality, Ken Hakuta.
• Justin studied at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard Business School.
• Justin and Ali met in 2010 and have been married since 201•
• Justin's estimated net worth is $1.2 million, while Ali's is around $3 million.
Contents
Who is Justin Hakuta?
Justin Hakuta is a businessman and entrepreneur, but perhaps best known as the husband of Ali Wong, the popular comedian. He was born under the Zodiac sign Libra on 18 October 1982, in Washington, DC, USA. Justin holds American nationality, but is of mixed Japanese and Korean ethnicity.
Early life and Family
Justin was born into a well-to-do family; his father, Ken Hakuta, was a successful business guru and a TV personality, while his mother was an employee of World Bank. Ken was born in 1951 in Seoul, South Korea, and in the ’80s made a fortune for inventing the Wacky WallWalker, a toy made of elastomer. The spider-shaped toy was very popular; more than 240 million were sold, raking in about $80 million. Ken is also known as Dr. Fad, the host of the kid’s invention TV show called “The Dr. Fad Show”, which aired from 1988 to 1994, and featured various children’s inventions intending to promote creativity and inventiveness.
Ken also organized four Fad Fairs, a convention for inventors with fun and odd ideas, and was a recipient of the Inventor of the Year Award in Philadelphia. As a successful inventor, Ken appeared in various articles and talk shows such as “The Washington Post”, “The New York Times”, “Late Night with Conan O’ Brian”, etc.
In 1998, Ken founded AllHerb.com, a company that offers herbal remedy products and information. His idea of differentiating this company from many others was to position it as the most authentic resource of herbal remedies. Unfortunately, this project was not so successful, and it ceased its operations after just two years.
Regarding his mother, Marilou Cantiller, there is not much information about her, mainly rising to prominence as the wife of the inventor. Reportedly, they met while they were working at the World Bank, and married in 1997 in a private ceremony.
The couple welcomed three children – Justin, Kenzo, and Aki. As of 2021, they are celebrating 44 years of marriage.
Educational Background and Career
Justin attended the Sidwell Friends School in D.C. After matriculating in 2000, he went abroad to study at Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico from 2002-2003, apparently as a Fulbright Scholar. As an ambitious man of academic pursuits, he also attended the Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Decision Science. His achievements do not stop there; just like his father, he also enrolled at the Harvard Business School and received an MBA.
Upon graduating, Justin decided to dip his toes in various fields; he launched YogaStart, an online resource for practicing yoga. He also collaborated with Health companies such as Honest Tea, Seventh Generation, and Patagonia. With a strong interest in wellness and a healthy lifestyle, he wrote a series of articles for the Huffington Post. Justin’s other employments include DirectTV- Digital Innovation where he managed a team of ten developers and Good RX, from January 2017 to February 2019 serving as the vice-president. His wife, Ali revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that her husband left the position in this company, to join her in YodaStart. Justin also launched and managed the non-profit organization “The Human Trafficking Project and All day Buffet”, concentrating on events.
His marriage to Ali Wong
Justin and Ali met in 2010 at a wedding reception, and it was love at first sight. Ali fell for him immediately and knew he was a catch, saying in one of her stand-up shows: “So I was, like, ‘All right, Ali, you gotta make this dude believe that your body is a secret garden When really it’s a public park that has hosted many reggae fests, and has even accidentally let…two homeless people inside. I thought they were hipsters.” She also revealed that one of the first things she learned about him was that he graduated from Harvard, she said jokingly: “And I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m gonna trap his a**. Going to trap his a**!’ And I trapped his a**.” Ali tried her luck, and invited him to her show; in no time he was charmed by her unique sense of humor.
The couple married in November 2014; interestingly, before going through the ceremony, Ali had to sign a prenuptial agreement, as at the time she wasn’t very famous or successful, while Justin was making a lot more money than her. This prompted his parents to propose the agreement and ask Ali to sign it. She said during one of her shows that it made her feel very anxious and scared, but it also motivated her to make her own money. “My father always praised ‘the gift of fear,’ and that pre-nup scared the shit out of me. In the end, being forced to sign that pre-nup was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me and my career.” They welcomed two children Mari and Nikki, the former named after Ali’s favorite idol, Mari Kondo. For almost seven years now, the couple has managed to stay happy together, and many have wondered what is their secret.
Given that Ali is a very vocal and open person, she has made the ups and downs of marriage one of many subjects in her shows, saying: ‘I don’t see how for us we could not go to couple’s therapy within the first two years of having kids. For us it’s been really important, and for other people, if you don’t go to couple’s therapy I hope you have great communication skills.’
Briefly about Ali Wong
Ali Wong was born on 19 April 1982, in San Francisco, California USA, to Adolphus and Tam Wong. Her father was a Chinese-American anesthesiologist, while her mother, a social worker, immigrated to the US from South Vietnam in 1960; Ali has three older siblings. In 2000 she matriculated from San Francisco University High School, and then enrolled at UCLA, with Asian-American studies as her major.
At this time, Ali discovered her love of performing, which prompted her to join the university’s LCC Theatre Company. In 2005 she obtained her BA, and went to Vietnam to study as a Fulbright scholar.
Ali began her career as a stand-up comedian, booking shows at Brainwash Café, soon moving to New York to pursue her career. Ali was slowly gaining recognition, and was named one of ‘10 Comics to Watch’ by Variety. In 2012 she landed a recurring role in the NBC comedy “Are you there, Chelsea?”, and in the same year appeared in the American action movie “Savages”, alongside Benicio Del Toro and Selma Hayek. During the following year, she starred as Dr. Lina Park in the medical drama series Black Box, and also made a couple of guest-appearances in “Inside Amy Schumer”.
Besides her performing and acting traits, she was also credited as a writer of “Fresh Off the Boat” alongside Randall Park, who actually suggested Ali as the writer.
In 2016 Netflix released her stand-up special Baby Cobra, which she filmed while being pregnant. The show quickly garnered positive reviews, and shot her up the list of popular comedians. Following the success of the show, in October of the same year, she landed a lead role in the sitcom “American Housewife”, then in 2018, Netflix released her second special called “Hard Knock Wife”, which she again filmed while being pregnant, with child number two. Over time, this performing during pregnancy became one of her trade-marks and the subject of her show. In 2019 she appeared in the Netflix movie “Always Be My Maybe” opposite Randall Park.
The band’s back together again on tonight’s episode of @BravoTopChef! @aliwong @parkrandall pic.twitter.com/ZbzFBshmYG
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) April 3, 2020
The talented comedian also wrote a book called “Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, and Advice for Living Your Best Life”.
Her latest appearances include in the American teen drama “Love, Victor” in which she was cast as a recurring character, and “Birds of Prey”, the American superhero movie; the latter garnered huge success, and grossed over $200 million.
What is his net worth?
Justin’s estimated net worth is $1.2 million as of early 2021, earned through his various entrepreneurial ventures. On the other hand, Ali’s net worth is around $3 million, which she’s earned as a writer, comedian, and actress.
Physical Statistics and Hobbies
Justin is 5ft 8ins (172cm) tall and weighs around 145lbs (65kgs). His hair and eyes are black. When he’s not working, he spends his time with his daughters or reading, but also likes to travel and take photographs of unique locations and objects.
An interesting detail about Justin is that he is his wife’s greatest fan. He has always been by her side supporting and motivating her to keep pushing- Justin also coordinates and sells her merchandise. In an interview with Ellen, Ali said: “My husband who graduated from Harvard Business School really is like standing in the lobby, after the show, slanging Ali Wong tote bags, shower curtains, posters.”
Justin isn’t a great fan of social media, however, he has an Instagram account that numbers over 12,000 followers. He posts seldom, usually photos of Ali and their daughters, interesting sightings, and locations. The total opposite, Ali is quite active on both Instagram and Twitter – her Instagram counts nearly two million followers, while on Twitter, she has almost 200,000 followers. She uses these platforms to promote her specials and TV shows, with the occasional photo of her husband and children.
