Alibaba Group Holding Limited

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, branded simply as Alibaba, is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet and technology. It was founded on 28 June 1999 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, by Jack Ma together with 17 friends and students, initially as Alibaba.com, a China-based business-to-business (B2B) marketplace. The company's name was taken from the character Ali Baba in the Middle Eastern folk-tale collection One Thousand and One Nights, chosen for its universal appeal. Alibaba provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales services through Chinese and global marketplaces, alongside local consumer services, digital media and entertainment, logistics and cloud computing. It hosts the largest B2B marketplace (Alibaba.com), the largest C2C marketplace (Taobao) and the largest B2C marketplace (Tmall) in the world, and owns and operates a diverse portfolio of companies across numerous business sectors globally. Alibaba is one of the world's largest retailers and e-commerce companies. Its American initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on 19 September 2014 raised US$25 billion, giving the company a market value of US$231 billion and making it by far the largest IPO in world history at the time. It ranks among the top 10 most valuable corporations and was named the 31st-largest public company in the world on the Forbes Global 2000 2020 list. In January 2018 it became the second Asian company to break the US$500 billion valuation mark, after its competitor Tencent. In 2020 it was also rated the fifth-largest artificial intelligence company. The group has expanded aggressively beyond its marketplace core, moving into media, entertainment, logistics, cloud computing and physical retail. It set a record on the 2018 edition of China's Singles' Day, the world's biggest online and offline shopping day. Its global B2B marketplace has been led by Kuo Zhang as President of Alibaba.com since July 2017, succeeding co-founder Trudy Shan Dai; Zhang has publicly discussed the limits of AI agents in commerce, noting that the best frontier models completed only about 61 to 62% of tasks correctly.

Alibaba was founded on 28 June 1999, when Jack Ma, with 17 friends and students, launched Alibaba.com, a China-based B2B marketplace site, in his Hangzhou apartment. The company's name came from the character Ali Baba in One Thousand and One Nights, chosen for its universal appeal. In October 1999, Alibaba received a US$25 million investment from Investor AB, Goldman Sachs and SoftBank; Investor AB owned 6% of the shares that year. By 2002, Alibaba.com had become profitable. When eBay announced its expansion into China in 2003, Ma viewed the American company as a foreign competitor and created Taobao as a subsidiary to win the domestic market. Taobao gained consumer trust through features such as third-party verification and by offering most services for free before monetizing additional services. Taobao surpassed eBay in 2007, and eBay later closed its unprofitable China web unit. In 2005, Yahoo! invested in Alibaba through a variable interest entity (VIE) structure, buying a 40% stake for US$1 billion. In 2012, China Investment Corporation led a group of Chinese investors in buying out Yahoo!'s 40% stake and in buying the Alibaba shares that had traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to Li Chuan, a senior Alibaba executive, the company planned in 2013 to open traditional brick-and-mortar retail outlets in partnership with Wanda Group, a Chinese real estate company. Alibaba also purchased a 25% stake in the Hong Kong-listed Chinese department store chain Intime Retail in early 2014. In early 2017, Alibaba and Intime's founder Shen Guojun agreed to pay HK$19.8 billion (US$2.6 billion) to take the store chain private; Alibaba's stake—28% from its 2014 US$692 million investment—rose about 74% after the deal. In April 2014, Alibaba invested in Lyft alongside Coatue Management and Andreessen Horowitz, leading a US$250 million Series D financing round. On 5 June 2014, Alibaba bought a 50% stake in Guangzhou Evergrande F.C. from Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd. in a deal worth 1.2 billion yuan (US$192 million). On 5 September 2014, Alibaba set a US$60–$66 per-share price range for its scheduled IPO. On 18 September 2014, the IPO priced at US$68, raising US$25 billion for the company and investors, making it the biggest IPO in history—bigger than Google, Facebook and Twitter combined. On 22 September 2014, Alibaba's underwriters confirmed they had exercised a greenshoe option to sell 15% more shares than originally planned. The IPO valued the company at US$231 billion. Alibaba and its IPO underwriters were sued in a California superior court in a consolidated class action filed in October 2015 on behalf of investors who purchased American depositary shares, alleging violations of the Securities Act; Alibaba reached a settlement agreement in December 2018, subject to court approval, agreeing to pay US$75 million. In 2015, Alibaba's Mobile Business Group formed Ali Literature to enter the internet literature sector. Beginning in mid-2015, Alibaba invested in Paytm, an India-based mobile payment platform. Alibaba is among the most prominent investors in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor, opened in 2018, committing approximately US$320 million for the development of an e-commerce digital hub in the EEC. In January 2017, Alibaba and Intime's founder agreed to take the department store chain private. The group continued to expand into media, cloud computing, logistics and physical retail, and in January 2018 became the second Asian company to break the US$500 billion valuation mark, after Tencent. It set a record on the 2018 edition of China's Singles' Day, the world's biggest online and offline shopping day. In 2020 it was rated the fifth-largest artificial intelligence company, and it was named the 31st-largest public company in the world on the Forbes Global 2000 2020 list.

• 2020

  Rated the fifth-largest artificial intelligence company; named 31st-largest public company on the Forbes Global 2000 2020 list.

• 2018

  Became the second Asian company to break the US$500 billion valuation mark; set a record on Singles' Day.

• 2018

  Committed approximately US$320 million to an e-commerce digital hub in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor.

• 2018

  Reached a US$75 million settlement in the IPO-related class action (subject to court approval).

• 2017

  Alibaba and Shen Guojun agreed to take Intime Retail private for HK$19.8 billion (US$2.6 billion).

• 2015

  Mobile Business Group formed Ali Literature; began investing in Paytm.

• 2015

  Ali Literature formed

• 2014

  Purchased a 25% stake in Intime Retail; invested in Lyft; bought 50% of Guangzhou Evergrande F.C.

• 2014

  NYSE IPO on 19 September raised US$25 billion, valuing the company at US$231 billion — the largest IPO in world history at the time.

• 2014

  New York Stock Exchange IPO

Showing the 10 most recent.

A broad-based technology and commerce group operating major digital marketplaces and related services across retail, logistics, media, and cloud computing.

• Alibaba.com

  The world's largest B2B marketplace, founded 1999.

• Taobao

  A consumer e-commerce marketplace established as a subsidiary in 2003.

• Tmall

  The world's largest B2C marketplace.

• 1688

  Chinese domestic wholesale marketplace.

• Alibaba Cloud

  The group's cloud computing business.

• Ali Literature

  Internet literature unit formed in 2015.

• 2021

  Alibaba Group fined 18.228 billion yuan for platform 'choose one of two' monopolistic conduct

  On April 10, 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation found that Alibaba Group abused its dominant position in China's online retail platform services market, excluding and restricting competition through 'choose one of two,' and imposed a fine of 4% of its 2019 domestic sales, amounting to 18.228 billion yuan.

  Source

• 2020

  Jiang Fan family and social media controversy sparks reputational crisis and internal discipline

  In April 2020, then Taobao and Tmall President Jiang Fan caused a serious public opinion crisis due to improper handling of family issues. Alibaba removed his partner status, issued a demerit, demoted him, and canceled his previous year's bonus. The company's investigation also said that there was no benefit transfer in his investment in Ruhan E-commerce and Zhang Dayi's store. This entry retains the investigation conclusion and does not present online rumors about personal relationships as established illegality.

  Source

• 2011

  China supplier fraud incident leads CEO Wei Zhe and COO Li Xuhui to resign

  In February 2011, Alibaba's B2B company disclosed that some China supplier accounts were suspected of fraud, with sales staff either assisting or failing to review properly; the company cleaned up the accounts involved, and CEO Wei Zhe and COO Li Xuhui resigned to take responsibility. Resigning to take responsibility does not constitute a finding that the two committed a criminal offense.

  Source 1Source 2

• U.S. investor class action lawsuit

Read more

• Taobao launched in response to eBay's China expansionOther

• 2024

  Alibaba announces sale of Intime Department Store[1]Alibaba Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Alibaba announced an agreement to sell Intime Department Store to Youngor Group, reflecting continued portfolio adjustment.

• 2023

  Alibaba announces 1+6+N restructuring[7]阿里巴巴宣布“1+6+N”重组alibabagroup.com

  Leadership change

  Alibaba announced a reorganization into six major business groups with greater operational autonomy, alongside group-level capital-management and compliance committees.

• 2023

  Cainiao files for Hong Kong listing[1]Alibaba Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics business, filed for a potential Hong Kong initial public offering.

• 2020

  Ant Group listing suspended amid regulatory scrutiny[1]Alibaba Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  Regulation

  The planned public offering of Ant Group, an Alibaba-affiliated financial-technology company, was suspended after regulatory concerns and changes to the financial-technology regulatory environment.

• 2019

  Alibaba completes Hong Kong secondary listing[8]阿里巴巴完成香港二次上市alibabagroup.com

  Other

  Alibaba conducted a secondary listing in Hong Kong, broadening its access to Asian capital markets.

• 2019

  Jack Ma steps down as chairman[1]Alibaba Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  Leadership change

  Jack Ma formally relinquished the chairmanship and Daniel Zhang became the group’s chairman.

• 2018

  Alibaba agrees to settle investor securities lawsuit[1]Alibaba Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  Lawsuit

  The company reached a proposed settlement of a consolidated investor lawsuit concerning disclosures before its U.S. offering; the reported settlement required court approval.

• 2014

  Alibaba completes New York Stock Exchange initial public offering[8]阿里巴巴完成香港二次上市alibabagroup.com

  Other

  Alibaba began trading in New York after an initial public offering that raised approximately US$25 billion.

1. 1Alibaba Group — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Alibaba Group official websitealibabagroup.com
3. 3Alibaba Group fined 18.228 billion yuan for platform 'choose one of two' monopolistic conductsamr.gov.cn
4. 4China supplier fraud incident leads CEO Wei Zhe and COO Li Xuhui to resignjjckb.cn
5. 5China supplier fraud incident leads CEO Wei Zhe and COO Li Xuhui to resignnews.sina.com.cn
6. 6Jiang Fan family and social media controversy sparks reputational crisis and internal disciplineyicai.com
7. 7阿里巴巴宣布“1+6+N”重组alibabagroup.com
8. 8阿里巴巴完成香港二次上市alibabagroup.com
9. 9阿里巴巴启动香港IPO 发售新发行5亿股普通股新股tech.sina.com.cn
10. 10阿里发布全新 Qoder，从 AI 编程工具升级为智能体工作台finance.sina.com.cn
11. 11阿里与中东广播中心达成合作 中东北非23国可看双11狂欢夜finance.sina.com.cn
12. 12河北省长会见阿里巴巴张勇一行 双方签署1+7合作协议finance.sina.com.cn
13. 13机票退改新标准或出台，工信部严禁未充分测试验证的汽车入市，千问Qwen3.8-Flash发布，OpenAI推首款芯片，这就是今天的其他大新闻！163.com
14. 14科技晚报：阿里发布首颗流片自研芯片，大兴机场今日通航finance.sina.com.cn
15. 15企业协作软件Teambition确认被阿里巴巴收购，将推出飞流、行云等多款全新工具finance.sina.com.cn
16. 16厦门与阿里巴巴达成战略合作xm.fjsen.com
17. 17智谱发布 GLM-5.3，编程能力更强；传苹果训练国内专用 AI 模型；微信：朋友圈现在、过去、未来都不会有二次编辑功能 | 极客早知道163.com
18. 18Accor Expands Partnership with Alibaba Groupasiatraveltips.com
19. 19Alibaba Group Launches AI Tool for 3D Restaurant Tours via Amapfinance.yahoo.com
20. 20Alibaba launches 2019 11.11 Global Shopping Festivalinsideretail.asia
21. 21Alibaba launches Taobao store in MyTOWNbernama.com
22. 22Alibaba launches Wan3.0 AI video model after record $10 billion share salefinance.yahoo.com
23. 23Alibaba unveils AI inference chip to boost machine learning speed | iTWireitwire.com
24. 24Alibaba unveils homegrown AI chip to supercharge e-commerce | Technology NYOOOZnyoooz.com
25. 25Taobao opens largest store in Malaysia to extend customer reachdigitalnewsasia.com