Jim Liaw

Taiwanese American entrepreneur Jim Liaw has leveraged his experience and passion for motorsports into a successful career that has introduced and launched one of the hottest youth culture programs in America.

With his Asian heritage, Liaw has been able to cultivate relationships in Asia. This in turn enabled him and his partner Ryan Sage to be the first people to be able to take D1 (Japan’s professional drifting series) outside of Japan and introduce the extreme motor sport of drifting to America. This ultimately which led to the creation of Formula Drift, which has over the last nine years become the top drifting series in the world and the global benchmark for professional drifting.

Like many young boys, Liaw was a car enthusiast well before he was able to drive. After graduating from UCLA, Liaw caught the upsurge of the import car racing and aftermarket scene and turned it into a career. He has worked with major enthusiast publisher McMullen Argus (now Source Interlink Media) on Sport Compact Car, one of the first import/tuner publications in the U.S. Liaw then transitioned his knowledge of this evolving enthusiast market into action. He played a big part in helping to run the first ever sport compact drag racing championships with the Import Drag Racing Circuit. In addition, he continued to consult with Vision Entertainment to help develop more racing and motorsport content.

In 2003, Liaw co-founded Formula Drift, based in Long Beach, California, to become the premier drifting championship in the world. The influence and exposure created from this new motor sport called drifting has brought him and Formula Drift recognition from various media outlets domestically and internationally. Now entering its ninth season, Formula Drift has established itself as the global leader in the sport of drifting.