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| Alibaba, China’s king of web retail, to debut on stock market and world stage | Alibaba, China’s king of web retail, to debut on stock market and world stage |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| China’s massive Alibaba Group will start selling shares to the public this morning under the ticker symbol BABA. The world’s biggest retail giant, which dominates China’s web and is making moves on American shores, is expected to raise more than $21.8 billion in the deal, making it the biggest U.S. stock debut ever. | China’s massive Alibaba Group will start selling shares to the public this morning under the ticker symbol BABA. The world’s biggest retail giant, which dominates China’s web and is making moves on American shores, is expected to raise more than $21.8 billion in the deal, making it the biggest U.S. stock debut ever. |
| Alibaba rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, capping the group’s splashy two-week world tour. With shares priced at $68, the megafirm would be valued at $168 billion, more than Amazon.com. | Alibaba rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, capping the group’s splashy two-week world tour. With shares priced at $68, the megafirm would be valued at $168 billion, more than Amazon.com. |
| With its messy, sprawling marketplaces Taobao and Tmall, the Chinese giant was home to more sales last year than Amazon.com and eBay combined. As China’s growing middle class of consumers has found, you can buy pretty much anything on Taobao, including live scorpions and a cashmere dress for your cat. | With its messy, sprawling marketplaces Taobao and Tmall, the Chinese giant was home to more sales last year than Amazon.com and eBay combined. As China’s growing middle class of consumers has found, you can buy pretty much anything on Taobao, including live scorpions and a cashmere dress for your cat. |
| But though 80 percent of online sales in China now go through an Alibaba site, the group is just starting to invest in America. They’ve opened a sleek invite-only online boutique, 11 Main, and have invested in Uber ride-sharing competitor Lyft, delivery service Shoprunner and a handful of other tech startups in messaging, luxury retail and video games. | But though 80 percent of online sales in China now go through an Alibaba site, the group is just starting to invest in America. They’ve opened a sleek invite-only online boutique, 11 Main, and have invested in Uber ride-sharing competitor Lyft, delivery service Shoprunner and a handful of other tech startups in messaging, luxury retail and video games. |
| “After the IPO, Alibaba will have enough money to buy the coolest and latest innovations to make (it) a true global tech company,” said Simon Chan, a partner in the Hong Kong office of law firm Dorsey and Whitney. “Startup tech companies with cool technologies should be expecting a knock on the door for years to come.” | “After the IPO, Alibaba will have enough money to buy the coolest and latest innovations to make (it) a true global tech company,” said Simon Chan, a partner in the Hong Kong office of law firm Dorsey and Whitney. “Startup tech companies with cool technologies should be expecting a knock on the door for years to come.” |
| Alibaba isn’t expected to be the world’s biggest IPO at first, though it could win that honor soon if its underwriters claim more shares. That option would help Alibaba raise more than $25 billion, making it bigger than the IPOs of Visa or Facebook. The world’s biggest IPO so far raised $22 billion for the Agricultural Bank of China in 2010. | Alibaba isn’t expected to be the world’s biggest IPO at first, though it could win that honor soon if its underwriters claim more shares. That option would help Alibaba raise more than $25 billion, making it bigger than the IPOs of Visa or Facebook. The world’s biggest IPO so far raised $22 billion for the Agricultural Bank of China in 2010. |
| A group of Alibaba customers, including a Washington state cherry farmer, rang the New York exchange’s ceremonial bell as investors crowded the trading floor. You can watch a live stream from the NYSE here. | A group of Alibaba customers, including a Washington state cherry farmer, rang the New York exchange’s ceremonial bell as investors crowded the trading floor. You can watch a live stream from the NYSE here. |
| Following up with a photo of the mob outside. At 6:45am @nyse $BABA pic.twitter.com/qzCoB8PAvh — Sally Shin (@sallyshin) September 19, 2014 | Following up with a photo of the mob outside. At 6:45am @nyse $BABA pic.twitter.com/qzCoB8PAvh — Sally Shin (@sallyshin) September 19, 2014 |
| Following up with a photo of the mob outside. At 6:45am @nyse $BABA pic.twitter.com/qzCoB8PAvh | Following up with a photo of the mob outside. At 6:45am @nyse $BABA pic.twitter.com/qzCoB8PAvh |
| — Sally Shin (@sallyshin) September 19, 2014 | — Sally Shin (@sallyshin) September 19, 2014 |
| Jack Ma, the group’s quirky, charismatic founder, instead continued the publicity tour through TV interviews, telling CNBC, “We want to be bigger than Walmart. … They changed the world.” | Jack Ma, the group’s quirky, charismatic founder, instead continued the publicity tour through TV interviews, telling CNBC, “We want to be bigger than Walmart. … They changed the world.” |
| Ma once again touted Alibaba’s mission, “to make it easy to do business anywhere,” by comparing its small-business audience to his founding of the company, in 1999, from within his cramped apartment. “When I was doing my business 15 years ago, no one supported us,” he said on CNBC. To small businesses, he said, “Come to our site, work hard, everything is a fair-play game.” | Ma once again touted Alibaba’s mission, “to make it easy to do business anywhere,” by comparing its small-business audience to his founding of the company, in 1999, from within his cramped apartment. “When I was doing my business 15 years ago, no one supported us,” he said on CNBC. To small businesses, he said, “Come to our site, work hard, everything is a fair-play game.” |
| Ma, an impish eccentric who has become a cult figure in China on par with Apple’s Steve Jobs, appeared characteristically energetic, with CNBC’s Jim Cramer calling him “breathtakingly uncynical.” Ma ended his interview by saying, “A lot of young people don’t have dreams anymore. We want to tell them: Those dreams, you have to keep.” (For context, Ma is one of China’s richest billionaires, and has a net worth somewhere around the gross domestic product of Estonia.) | |
| All kidding aside, Jack Ma may be the closest thing China has to a Walt Disney. Trillest CEO in the game right now. $BABA — Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) September 19, 2014 | All kidding aside, Jack Ma may be the closest thing China has to a Walt Disney. Trillest CEO in the game right now. $BABA — Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) September 19, 2014 |
| All kidding aside, Jack Ma may be the closest thing China has to a Walt Disney. Trillest CEO in the game right now. $BABA — Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) September 19, 2014 | All kidding aside, Jack Ma may be the closest thing China has to a Walt Disney. Trillest CEO in the game right now. $BABA — Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) September 19, 2014 |
| But Ma also alluded to routine Alibaba problems, including the marketplaces’ relentless flood of counterfeit merchandise, which once led federal officials to call Alibaba businesses “notorious markets” for intellectual-property fraud. The group has begun to aggressively remove suspected fakes and blacklist problematic suppliers. Of the counterfeits, Ma said, “They are headaches of the world, and we are solving that.” | But Ma also alluded to routine Alibaba problems, including the marketplaces’ relentless flood of counterfeit merchandise, which once led federal officials to call Alibaba businesses “notorious markets” for intellectual-property fraud. The group has begun to aggressively remove suspected fakes and blacklist problematic suppliers. Of the counterfeits, Ma said, “They are headaches of the world, and we are solving that.” |
| Shares hadn’t begun trading by 11 a.m., but prices had reportedly rose past $90 a share. If you’re wondering if you should invest, we have some thoughts on that. |