Alibaba

Alibaba, one of the largest eCommerce and retail companies in the world, was founded in a small apartment in Hangzhou, China, by former English teacher Jack Ma and 17 of his friends and students. The company aimed to build a Chinese B2B marketplace to connect small and medium enterprises with buyers in overseas markets.

Alibaba attracted a $20 million investment from Softbank in January 2000, without discussing revenues or a business model, solely based on a shared vision.

In 2002, Alibaba became profitable, marking a significant milestone in the company's financial success.

Alibaba Group organizes its first Netrepreneur Summit, a gathering of Internet entrepreneurs, and honors the first 10 Netrepreneurs of the Year.

In February 2004, Softbank led an investment funding round worth $82 million, demonstrating growing interest and support for Alibaba's expansion and competition with American rivals.

Aliwangwang, a personal computer-based instant messaging tool, is introduced on Taobao Marketplace to enable communication between buyers and sellers through text, audio, and video.

Alipay, a third-party online payment platform, is launched as a separate entity, which later becomes a related company of Alibaba Group.

In August 2005, Yahoo acquired a 40% stake in Alibaba for $1 billion in cash, recognizing the growing dominance of Alibaba in China's online auction space.

In October 2005, the Taobao University program was initiated to provide comprehensive e-commerce training and education to both buyers and sellers, aiming to enhance their skills in online business.

In November 2007, Alibaba.com completed its IPO on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with shares opening at HK$30, far more than the issue price of HK$13.50. The growth only continued with Alibaba shares rising more than 192% in its first day, nearly overwhelming the trading system.

Alibaba Cloud Computing is established during Alibaba Group’s 10th anniversary celebration.

Alibaba held its first 11.11 Singles' Day sale in 2009, marking the beginning of what would become the world's largest online shopping event.

Taobao Marketplace launched the online group buying marketplace Juhuasuan.

Alibaba's Taobao Marketplace introduced the Mobile Taobao app.

In February 2011, Alibaba's corporate office admitted that it had granted the mark of integrity of its 'China Gold Supplier' program to more than 2,000 dealers that had subsequently defrauded buyers, leading to a drop in the firm's share price.

Alibaba Foundation was established in October 2011.

In 2012, the 11.11 event set a new global record for the largest value of goods purchases within 24 hours online, surpassing Amazon’s Cyber Monday event. Logistics teams played a crucial role in this achievement.

In October 2013, Alibaba's chairman Jack Ma announced the promotion of Alibaba's messaging application Laiwang over Tencent's WeChat, signaling Alibaba's efforts to establish its own messaging application and service.

On 19 September 2014, Alibaba's initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange raised US$25 billion, giving the company a market value of US$231 billion and, by far, then the largest IPO in world history. It is one of the top 10 most valuable corporations, and is named the 31st-largest public company in the world on the Forbes Global 2000 2020 list.

On 16 October 2014, the Alipay company was re-branded as Ant Financial Services, marking a significant transformation in the company's branding and services.

In 2015, Alibaba's 11.11 event set 9 Guinness World Records, including the highest online sales revenue generated by a single company in 24 hours and records for selling the most mobile phones, nuts, watches, milk, TVs, apples, and cars by a single platform in one day.

Alibaba integrates online and offline platforms to offer consumers immersive experiences, such as the VR game Catch the Tmall Cat, where millions of app users visit participating stores to 'catch' the mascot and win prizes.

Alibaba's Tmall Global, a major player in China's cross-border e-commerce, celebrated its decade of success.

Alibaba's third annual 11.11 Countdown Gala features performances by American songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams, and British musician Jessie J.

Simon Hu, CEO of Alibaba Cloud Computing, delivered a speech at the fifth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China. The event took place in China's eastern Zhejiang province.

In 2018, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network processed over 1 billion delivery orders during the 11.11 event, surpassing the sales of the Thanksgiving long-weekend in the US.

Alibaba's mid-year shopping festival, known as 6.18, was launched in 2019 to boost sales during the summer season and has become a significant event in the e-commerce industry.

On 27 July 2019, Alibaba unveiled a 64-bit RISC-V processor called the XuanTie-910, designed by Alibaba's subsidiary T-Head, claiming it to be faster than the ARM Cortex-A73.

On 25 September 2019, Alibaba announced an AI accelerator called the Hanguang 800, capable of 78,563 images per second (IPS) inference and 500 IPS/W in ResNet-50, to be available on Alibaba Cloud.

In August 2020, Ant Financial, a subsidiary of Alibaba, launched an IPO program valued at US$200 billion, signifying a major financial move within the Alibaba Group.

In October 2020, Alibaba agreed to pay US$3.6 billion to take control of China's biggest hypermarket operator Sun Art from French billionaire Mulliez family.

In November 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Xi Jinping personally scuttled Jack Ma's Ant Group IPO, leading to wider political drive to consolidate control over finance and technology.

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, shared a morale-boosting post, stepping out from the shadows.

In December 2020, The New York Times reported that Alibaba had developed and marketed facial recognition and surveillance software configured to detect Uyghur faces and those of other ethnic minorities in China, leading to a response from Alibaba defending the technology's development in a testing environment.

On 9 April 2021, SAMR issued a $2.8 billion fine against Alibaba for anti-competitive practices, tightening the Chinese government's control of tech companies.

Alibaba introduces carbon management tools and green logistics to make 11.11 more environmentally friendly. This initiative helps P&G save 22,000 km of bubble wrap.

Alibaba has encountered difficulties in navigating government regulations, compliance requirements, and antitrust investigations, leading to fines. Despite these challenges, Alibaba continues to have a significant impact on the e-commerce industry.

The number of products, brands, and merchants participating in 11.11 sets new records, with over 80 million items at their lowest price for the year. Approximately 46,000 brands and merchants worldwide will promote overseas products.

In January 2024, Alibaba, represented by the Alibaba Foundation, donated RMB125 million for the procurement of oximeters to alleviate the problems of medical care and resource limitations in the rural villages in China. The equipment was promptly dispatched to the rural areas by Cainiao.

In February 2024, Trendyol mobilized its resources to provide aid in the relief effort for the earthquake in Türkiye, including the procurement of urgently needed supplies to the affected areas as delivered by Cainiao, and working with local NGOs to raise funds from the international community. Alibaba helped deliver winter supplies from China to victims in Türkiye.

In March 2024, Alibaba Group announced a new organizational and governance structure to empower all its businesses to become more agile in response to market changes and better positioned to seize market and industry opportunities. The company would establish six main business groups and various businesses with independent management and operations.