Alibaba was the Chinese e-commerce company behind a $25 billion IPO in 2014.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited priced its New York Stock Exchange offering at $68 per share on September 18, 2014, with trading beginning the following day. The deal initially raised roughly $21.8 billion, then reached $25 billion after underwriters exercised an overallotment, commonly called a greenshoe option. At the time, it was the largest IPO in world history.
Alibaba was founded by Jack Ma and began as a business-to-business marketplace connecting Chinese suppliers with buyers overseas. By the IPO, its ecosystem also included Taobao, a consumer marketplace, and Tmall, a platform for brands and retailers.
Baidu, Tencent and JD.com are also major Chinese technology companies, which makes them plausible distractors. However, Alibaba is specifically associated with the record-setting 2014 New York listing. The IPO gave the company a market value of approximately $231 billion.