Off the wire
• Endangered leopard population determined on China-Russia border  • Lifelong liability for polluting officials in China: regulation  • Roundup: Sudan pound declines as afflicted by fragile economy  • Philippine Customs to tighten rules on package boxes sent by Filipinos abroad  • News Analysis: Japan's economy shrinks in Q2 bringing "Abenomics" miracle cure into question  • 52 killed in bomb attacks, air strikes against IS in Iraq's Anba  • Israel delays request to release Palestinian hunger-strike prisoner  • 1st LD Writethru-China Focus: China moves to ensure clean air for military parade  • FDI in Bulgaria grows 1.9 pct year-on-year in H1  • UN special envoy slams air raids in Syria  
You are here: 　 Home

Jack Ma joins Alibaba's 4 bln USD share buyback

Xinhua, August 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Founder and chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Jack Ma, and vice chairman Joe Tsai on Monday said they would use their own money to buy Alibaba shares as the company began a two-year plan to buy back shares worth 4 billion U.S. dollars.

China's biggest e-commerce company, however, did not disclose, in its filing to the New York Stock Exchange, how much the two will invest in the buyback as affiliated purchasers.

Currently Jack Ma owns 7.6 percent of Alibaba and Joe Tsai owns 3.1 percent.

The repurchase plan failed to significantly boost Alibaba's share price. Its shares rose 0.08 percent to 74.82 dollars at 9.56 a.m. local time in New York, sightly higher than its IPO price of 68 dollars.

The Hangzhou-based company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September last year. Amid expectations of weaker growth, its shares have fallen from its all-time high of 120 dollars in November.

Alibaba on Wednesday, when it first revealed the company's share repurchase plan, posted slower-than-expected revenue growth of 28 percent to reach 20.2 billion yuan (3.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter of the year.

The growth represents a slowdown from 40 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, and 45 percent in the first quarter of this year, as a slowing economy dragged down consumer spending. Endi