Alibaba raised around $25bn (£15bn) according to US media, making it the biggest initial public offering (IPO) ever. The record was previously held by VISA, which raised $19.8bn (£12bn) in March 2008 whilst Facebook raised $16.0bn (£9.8bn) in May 2012. The valuation was helped by underwriters at Alibaba who exercised an option to sell additional shares.
What this means in terms of Alibaba’s valuation:
- World’s 18th-biggest company by valuation, bigger than Facebook, Amazon and eBay
- Company now valued at $230bn (£141bn), more than Amazon and eBay combined
- Jack Ma is now confirmed as China’s richest man with his 9% stake worth $2bn
You will find more statistics at Statista
Share Price
Alibaba’s (trading as BABA) share price opened at $92.7 on Friday, reaching a high of $100 before closing at $93.89. The increase of 38% in stock price is bigger than the growth experienced by Amazon, Google and Facebook but less than the 72.7% increase experienced by Twitter in November 2013.
Whilst a “big-first day pop” creates positive headlines it could also indicate the that the IPO was not accurately priced but observers feel that Alibaba’s underwriters have struck the right balance.
Jack Ma
Overall, it was a good day for Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, who started the company in his one bedroom apartment in Hangzhou in 1998. He spoke of his dream for Alibaba to become “bigger than Walmart” and help change the world.
He also revealed he gains inspiration from the movie Forrest Gump, which he has watched more than ten times. Life is like a box of chocolates and it’s probably tasting pretty sweet right now for Jack Ma.
You will find more statistics at Statista
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