Jack Ma buys $77M in Alibaba shares after $10B AI raise

Alibaba ↘ 4.10% founder Jack Ma purchased more than HK$600 million ($76.5 million) worth of the company's Hong Kong-listed shares on consecutive days, joining chairman Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu in a coordinated show of confidence following the tech giant's HK$80 billion share placement. Combined, the three insiders acquired over HK$800 million in stock within days of the offering, which diluted existing shareholders by roughly 3.6%.

Insider Purchases Signal AI Conviction

Ma's purchases were first reported by the South China Morning Post News Corp ↘ 1.26% on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter, and separately confirmed by state-backed Chinese media outlet STAR Market Daily. A source told SCMP the buying reflected Ma's "strong confidence for Alibaba to realise its AI ambitions and capture the long-term growth opportunities ahead."scmp+1

Tsai purchased 720,000 shares on Tuesday at an average price of HK$113.47, totaling approximately HK$82 million, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing. That followed an HK$80 million purchase on Monday, the same day Wu bought roughly HK$40 million in shares. In aggregate, Tsai and Wu spent over HK$202 million across the two days.marketscreener+3

Context: A Record AI-Focused Capital Raise

The insider buying followed Alibaba's announcement on August 23 of a 710-million-share placement at HK$112.70 each — an 8.4% discount to the prior close — raising approximately HK$80 billion ($10.2 billion). Institutional demand reached nearly three times the offering size. The company said all proceeds would fund full-stack AI capabilities including chips, computing infrastructure, and large-language model development.stocktwits+2

Alibaba has pledged to spend more than 380 billion yuan ($56.5 billion) over three years on AI, a push that sent quarterly profit down 75% as capital expenditure surged to nearly $10 billion in the June quarter. Cloud and AI-related revenue grew 45% in the latest quarter, and AI-related product revenue posted triple-digit growth for the 12th consecutive quarter.barchart+2

Market Reaction and Skepticism

Shares edged higher in pre-market U.S. trading on Tuesday following the reports. Bank of America Securities maintained a "Buy" rating with a HK$168 target, noting Alibaba's net cash position would rise from approximately $31 billion to over $41 billion after the raise. Nomura Securities said the roughly 3.7% dilution was "far below market expectations."moomoo+1

Not everyone is convinced. Investor Michael Burry said Sunday he would not return to the stock after the share issuance and would reconsider only if it fell by about half.stocktwits