Which company is the parent of the e-commerce platform Taobao?

Alibaba Group is the parent company of the e-commerce platform Taobao.

Alibaba Group was founded by Jack Ma and 17 co-founders in Hangzhou, China, in 1999. Taobao launched in 2003 as a consumer-to-consumer marketplace and became one of the group’s best-known services. Alibaba also operates or has operated platforms and businesses involving business-to-business commerce, online retail, logistics, cloud computing, and digital payments.

Taobao is distinct from Tmall, another Alibaba marketplace that focuses more heavily on brands and retailers selling to consumers. Alibaba Cloud is also a separate major business rather than another name for Taobao. These distinctions matter because Alibaba’s market value reflects the whole corporate group, not just one shopping website.

Alibaba became a major publicly traded company when it listed shares in New York in 2014. The IPO raised about $25 billion and was the largest initial public offering at that time, before later offerings surpassed it.