Alibaba’s US mega-IPO swells founder Jack Ma’s fortune by $4.4b

Total net worth to date is $25.4b.

Jack Ma saw his personal fortune swell by US$3.5 billion on Friday after shares of the company he founded, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, soared 38% above the initial IPO price of US$68 to close at US$93.89 on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Wealth-X estimates that the Alibaba founder and executive chairman gained US$3.5 billion from his company’s blockbuster debut, bringing his net worth to date to US$25.4 billion. That represents a 13.8% rise in his personal fortune in one day. Ma, who started Alibaba in his one-bedroom apartment in Hangzhou in 1999, has a 6.3% stake in the company. He earned $867 million from the sale of some of his shares in the offering.

Joseph Tsai, the company’s vice chairman who holds a 2.7% stake in Alibaba, is now worth an estimated US$6.2 billion after gaining USS$1.5 billion from the company’s debut trading dayon Friday, representing a 24.2% increase in his personal fortune.

Here’s more from Wealth-X:

Excluding Ma and Tsai, the 10-member Alibaba Management Team collectively hold a 2.1% stake in the company, which is valued at US$4.7 billion after the company’s first trading day.

Aibaba raised $21.8 billion on Friday, the largest-ever IPO for a company listed on an American exchange.
The company is now valued at US$231 billion, making it larger than Amazon and eBay combined. About 271.2 million Alibaba shares changed hands from the time of its trading debut atnoon (New York time) until market close at 4 p.m.

The company employs more than 25,000 people. It has 300 million customers - just short of the entire US population. Ma, a former English teacher, founded Alibaba with US$60,000 borrowed from 18 people.