Jack Ma Buys $76 Million in Alibaba Shares, Backing Company's Aggressive AI Push

Alibaba shares rise as Jack Ma buys $76 million stake amid AI push By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Alibaba (HK:9988) shares rose on Wednesday after reports that founder Jack Ma bought more than HK$600 million ($76.5 million) of the company's Hong Kong-listed stock, adding a notable vote of confidence in its aggressive artificial-intelligence push. Alibaba shares traded up 1.4% at around HK$115.80, while the Hang Seng Index was up about 0.7%. Ma's purchases were reported by the South China Morning Post, which cited people familiar with the matter. The purchases were made over consecutive days after Alibaba announced its HK$80 billion share placement on August 23, the sources said. The buying was not limited to Alibaba's founder. Chairman Joe Tsai and Chief Executive Eddie Wu have also bought shares worth a combined HK$202 million over the past two days, according to Hong Kong stock-exchange filings. Tsai bought about HK$82 million of shares on Tuesday, following an HK$80 million purchase on Monday, while Wu bought roughly HK$40 million on Monday. The insider purchases come as Alibaba completes an HK$80 billion ($10.2 billion) placement of 710 million new shares at HK$112.70 each, with the transaction expected to close Wednesday. Alibaba said all net proceeds will be directed toward expanding its "full-stack" AI capabilities, including chips, computing infrastructure and AI models. The share sale initially unsettled investors. Alibaba shares fell as much as 10% on Monday after the company priced the new shares at an 8.4% discount to its previous close, raising concerns about dilution and whether its huge AI investments will generate adequate returns. The placement is the largest-ever primary follow-on offering by a Hong Kong-listed company. The latest insider buying therefore offers a counterpoint to those concerns, suggesting Alibaba's senior leadership remains confident in the long-term payoff from its AI strategy. Ma's purchase is particularly notable because it comes after Alibaba sharply increased capital spending and reported a 75% drop in quarterly net profit, largely reflecting the cost of its AI expansion. Alibaba has committed more than 380 billion yuan ($56.5 billion) over three years to AI infrastructure, while its Qwen models have been gaining traction in China.

Tech billionaire Jack Ma purchases $76.5M worth of Alibaba shares in vote of AI confidence

Jack Ma, billionaire founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, has increased his holdings ⁠of the company's Hong Kong-listed shares by more than HK$600 million (US$76.5 million). The move was a vote of ⁠confidence in the company's AI prospects, state-backed Chinese media STAR Market ⁠Daily reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai, meanwhile, purchased another 720,000 Hong Kong-listed shares of the company on Tuesday, two days after the Chinese e-commerce and cloud computing giant launched a heavily discounted HK$80 billion (US$10.2 billion) ⁠share sale to fund its AI ambitions. Tsai bought the stocks at an average price of HK$113.47 (US$14.48) for a total of approximately HK$82 million, a stock exchange filing showed. With this purchase, Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu have purchased in ⁠aggregate over HK$200 million worth of shares over the past two days.