Alibaba’s 2014 IPO was the largest in history at the time, raising about US$25 billion.
Alibaba Group listed its American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014. The offering raised approximately US$21.8 billion initially, and underwriters later exercised an overallotment option that brought the total to about US$25 billion. The record stood until Saudi Aramco’s larger 2019 offering.
Alibaba was founded by Jack Ma and began as an internet business connecting Chinese exporters with buyers. Its marketplace platforms, payment services, cloud computing, logistics, and digital media businesses made it one of China’s most prominent technology groups.
IPO size and market capitalization are related but different. The IPO amount is the money raised by selling newly issued or existing shares, whereas market capitalization is the value of all shares at a given price. Alibaba’s flotation mattered to market-cap history because it made a major Chinese technology company widely traded by international investors.