Alibaba Group Holdings shares rose after The New York Times revealed that founder Jack Ma has been buying up shares in the company.
Mr Ma and Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai purchased a total of US$202 million (S$271 million) in shares in recent months as the stock plummeted, according to the newspaper on January 23, citing unidentified sources.
Mr Ma and Mr Tsai’s share acquisitions indicate their conviction that the company is cheap, as its stock has fallen substantially since its 2020 top, according to the Times. Alibaba is valued at approximately $175 billion.
Alibaba’s US-traded shares rose as much as 8.6 percent in New York on January 23, the highest intraday gain since last July.
Alibaba, formerly the most valuable corporation in China, has fallen behind Chinese rivals such as Tencent Holdings and PDD Holdings, causing a 43% drop in their shares over the last year.
According to a securities filing on Jan 23, Mr Tsai’s Blue Pool Management family investment vehicle purchased about two million of Alibaba’s US-traded shares in the fourth quarter, for a total of approximately $152 million.
According to regulatory documents, this was Mr Tsai’s fund’s first acquisition of Alibaba shares since at least the fourth quarter of 2017.
Mr Ma, who stepped down as executive chairman in 2019 but remains a big stakeholder, purchased $50 million in stock during the quarter, according to the Times, citing a person familiar with the situation.
Mr Ma, the once-outspoken billionaire who remained out of the public eye after fighting with Beijing, turned to an internal message board in 2023 to encourage Alibaba to “correct its course” and complimented PDD, which had been stealing market share with its hit shopping app Temu.
Mr. Ma stated that with perseverance and hard work, Alibaba may achieve success again.
Mr Ma has sold shares in Alibaba in recent years, and his ownership in the company has fallen below 5%.
According to regulatory filings from 2023, he proposes to sell 10 million shares worth approximately $870 million on November 21 through two firms he owns, JC Properties and JSP Investment. BLOOMBERG