Alibaba Group operates Taobao and set a record with its 2014 US initial public offering.
Alibaba raised US$25 billion when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, making it the largest IPO in the world at that time. The offering surpassed the earlier record held by Agricultural Bank of China.
Taobao is a consumer-to-consumer marketplace, while Tmall connects brands and retailers with consumers. Alibaba also operates logistics, cloud-computing, digital-media, and payment-related businesses through its wider ecosystem.
The company was founded in Hangzhou in 1999 by Jack Ma and other co-founders. Its US listing used American depositary shares, a structure that represents ownership in foreign-company shares. Alibaba’s IPO size should not be confused with its later market capitalization, which changes with the company’s share price.