Alibaba Group created the world’s largest stock-market listing when it went public in 2014.
Alibaba’s initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange took place on 19 September 2014. The offering raised US$21.8 billion initially, and the underwriters’ overallotment option later increased the total to about US$25 billion, making it the largest IPO at that time.
Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and other co-founders in Hangzhou, China. Its businesses include online marketplaces such as Taobao and Tmall, cloud computing, logistics, digital media, and other technology services.
An IPO is the first sale of a company’s shares to public investors. It differs from market capitalization: the IPO amount measures money raised through newly sold shares, while market capitalization measures the value of all publicly traded shares at a given price.