Alibaba Group was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and became one of China’s largest listed companies by market capitalization.
Jack Ma and a group of co-founders established Alibaba in Hangzhou in 1999 as a business-to-business online marketplace. The company later developed consumer marketplaces, payment services, cloud computing, logistics, and digital-media operations, making it much broader than a single shopping website.
Alibaba’s initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014 raised about $25 billion, making it the largest IPO at that time. Its enormous listing attracted global attention and placed the company among the world’s most valuable public businesses.
Alibaba is often confused with Alipay, which became part of Ant Group, or with Tencent and Baidu, other major Chinese technology companies. Alibaba Group is the listed parent associated with platforms including Taobao and Tmall.