Alibaba just listed its cayman island holding company on the NYSE. Did you get your warm slice of China’s eCommerce future? Its shares closed significantly above their initial price on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Friday, a sign of the excitement surrounding the Chinese internet giant.
Here’s just some of the ways it’s bigger than other internet giants – which may surprise you!
– More than 100 million shares were traded in the minutes after the stock was launched – more than Twitter.
– Alibaba is now valued at $231.4bn – making it significantly larger than Amazon and Facebook.
– Alibaba operates a series of online marketplaces in China and elsewhere, handling more transactions than Amazon and eBay combined.
– It’s almost as big as Walmart for gods sake!
– It’s even got Jack Ma – an Asian Steve Jobs who’s got the cult following without the megalomaniac traits.
– Some believe Alibaba’s Chinese Govt censorship obligations and control are slightly less stringent than China’s other Internet giant, Baidu, making it more expandable.
Why You Should Care? – Growth Potential.
It is responsible for more than 80% of online eCommerce in China.
Already, the country is home to the largest population of internet users on the planet – and most estimates say that only half of China’s 1.3 billion residents have signed online. This is in the backdrop of Twitter and Facebook experiencing user growth slow down.
