Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and chairman Joe Tsai stand in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Friday, September 19, 2014 in New York, USA.
Scott Eales | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Alibaba co-founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai have acquired hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stock in the public market, according to a regulatory filing. new york timesthe company's stock rose about 6% in premarket trading Tuesday.
A company affiliated with Tsai's family firm, Blue Pool, acquired about 2 million Alibaba depositary shares worth $152 million in the fourth quarter, according to a report on Tuesday. Regulatory filing. Separately, sources told the Times that Ma acquired $50 million worth of Alibaba Hong Kong shares during the same period. Depositary shares are effectively a version of foreign stocks traded in the United States.
Alibaba's market capitalization is over $174 billion.
Until recently, Mr. Ma had largely stayed away from public life. Tsai maintains a more visible presence as the owner of several sports teams, including the Brooklyn Nets.
But the company they founded in 1999 has fallen on hard times in recent years. The worst period was in 2020 and 2021, when Mr. Ma publicly criticized Chinese officials and financial watchdogs, and ultimately regulatory pressures derailed a planned IPO for Alibaba's financial arm Ant Group. .
Geopolitical pressures are also weighing on the company. Alibaba announced in March 2023 that it would separate its cloud business as part of a broader corporate restructuring. A few months later, the company withdrew those plans, citing U.S. semiconductor export restrictions. Around the same time the spinoff was called off, Ma said in a regulatory filing that he would sell 10 million shares worth $870 million.
Alibaba stock has fallen about 21% since the spin-off was called off.
Alibaba referred CNBC to Ma's foundation, but a request for comment was not immediately returned.
