Five Things You Didn’t Know about Alibaba

alibaba

The Alibaba IPO is currently being touted as one that will potentially be the biggest initial public offering in history. Before the company can go public, however, it has to answer a long list of prerequisite questions as stated by the SEC. Word is that the company is almost done answering this list of questions, and that the date is drawing nearer for the public offering. In fact, the estimated projection for the IPO is $20 billion, which makes it bigger than Facebook, Visa and even General Motors.

Alibaba is More Profitable than Amazon

It might not seem possible, but it’s true. Alibaba might look to have revenue that’s 10 times less than Amazon, but Alibaba is much more profitable. Alibaba saw $248 billion in transactions last year, and that’s two and a half times the amount of transactions Amazon had. Additionally, Amazon doesn’t turn much of a profit (extremely thin margins), but Alibaba does.

Alibaba’s Owner was an English Teacher

Imagine being an English teacher who decided to go into business for himself. That’s what Jack Ma did. He managed to raise $60,000 from 18 of his closest friends and he started the e-commerce site from his China apartment. Now he’s one of the most successful men in the world.

Alibaba is Big in China

There is a recent estimate that says that out of every $5 spent online in China, $4 is spent on the Alibaba website. The site is a type of combination of both Amazon and eBay, which makes it bigger and much more profitable than either site. It’s big business in China.

Alibaba is Worth an Estimated $200 billion

It was first figured by analysts that the online site was worth around $170 billion, which is a lot of money. However, more recent figures state that the company is probably worth around $200 billion. It’s become one of the most impressive companies in the world over the past 15 years.

Jack Ma is the 29th Richest Man in China

Worth an estimated $4 billion, Jack Ma is on the list of China’s wealthiest residents. Of course, when the IPO happens, he’s going to be worth far more than just $4 billion. Expect to see him make his way closer to the top of this list by this time next year.

(Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)

Written by Tiffany Raiford

Tiffany Raiford is a lifelong Floridian, wife to my high school sweetheart and mother of four littles (two girls and boy/girl twins...no, they are not identical and yes, I'm sure). My kids love to whine, so I love to wine. My loves include nap time, bed time, date night, travel and evenings and weekends when my husband is home because he handles all diaper changes.