Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma purchased shares worth approximately $76.5 million in the past week, joining company executives in a show of confidence following a sharp decline in the stock price.
The purchases, totaling over 600 million Hong Kong dollars, were disclosed by a person familiar with the matter. Ma’s move coincided with similar acquisitions by Alibaba President Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu, who together bought at least $25 million in shares. The coordinated buying helped lift Alibaba’s stock by as much as 3.2% on Wednesday, partially reversing weekly losses.
The purchases follow Alibaba’s record $80 billion capital raise in Hong Kong, proceeds of which will support the company’s aggressive push into artificial intelligence. Alibaba has committed to investing over 380 billion yuan ($56.5 billion) in AI over the next three years, covering chips, data centers, and large language model development. The company aims to challenge rivals such as Tencent and ByteDance in the global AI race.
Alibaba’s intensified AI investments have weighed on profitability, particularly as domestic demand in its core e-commerce segment remains subdued. In the June quarter, the company’s AI-related spending surged to nearly $10 billion, with management emphasizing a focus on long-term competitiveness. CEO Wu has asserted that these investments will pay off within three years, projecting annualized AI product revenue of nearly $10 billion for the current quarter, up from $7.3 billion in the April-June period.
Ma’s latest share purchases underscore his renewed involvement in Alibaba’s strategic direction, following years of a lower public profile. The purchases also signal management’s confidence amid concerns over margin compression and the financial impact of heavy AI spending.
