Alibaba Shares Rise as Co-Founders Jack Ma, Joe Tsai Buy Stock

By Kimberley Kao and Jiahui Huang

Alibaba Group shares rose on news that cofounders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai bought about $200 million of the company's stock in the latest quarter, giving the Chinese tech giant some welcome news amid a monthslong slide.

Alibaba closed 7.3% higher on Wednesday, outpacing the 4.2% gain in Hong Kong's benchmark tech index and giving the company its biggest one-day rise in 10 months. U.S. ADRs rose 7.85% overnight.

Tsai, Alibaba's chairman and owner of the Brooklyn Nets, bought $151.7 million of U.S.-listed ADRs in the fourth quarter via his family investment vehicle Blue Pool, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed on Tuesday.

Separately, Ma, Alibaba's billionaire former chairman, purchased about $50 million of Hong Kong-listed shares during the quarter, The New York Times reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Alibaba didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by Dow Jones Newswires.

The purchases aren't large relative to Alibaba's market capitalization of more than $175 billion. But the backing could buoy sentiment around a stock that is still down almost 38% over the past 12 months.

The increase in cofounders' shareholdings send "a positive signal to the market that they are confident on the company's outlook and share price," said Tam Tsz-Wang, equity research analyst at DBS Bank in Hong Kong.

Ma stepped down from Alibaba as chairman in 2019, but he remains a major shareholder.

Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com and Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 24, 2024 04:17 ET (09:17 GMT)

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