Alibaba Co-Founder Reportedly Ropes In Morgan Stanley To Sell 8% Stake Amid Diversification Away From E-Commerce Giant

Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s BABA co-founder Joe Tsai has filed for the sale of three million American Depository Receipts, representing roughly 8% of his stake in the e-commerce company through Morgan Stanley,

What Happened: A filing to this effect was done by Tsai's holding company earlier this month and it included a trading plan in the document, reported Bloomberg, citing insider data and analytics provider Washington Service.

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Tsai’s Hong Kong-based family office, called Blue Pool Capital, is reportedly overseeing holdings in U.S. stocks, venture capital and real estate.

The Alibaba co-founder, who currently serves as vice chairman, has recently been ramping up investments outside the e-commerce company, stated the report.

His firm bought a penthouse at 220 Central Park South on New York’s Billionaires Row for $188 million in January and has also invested in European five-star hotels, the report said.

Tsai is also invested in sports and owns the Brooklyn Nets basketball team. He currently has a 1.4% stake in Alibaba. After joining the company in 1999, he significantly grew it into an e-commerce behemoth.

When Alibaba was listed in 2014, he sold some of his stake and liquidated at least $3.3 billion shares between 2017 and 2021, Bloomberg said.

Alibaba shares have been on a secular decline since hitting a peak in October 2020, dragged by a combination of factors including economic slowdown, Chinese regulatory clampdown and fears of a potential delisting from the U.S.

Price Action: In premarket trading on Friday, Alibaba shares were trading up 1.84%, at $87.80, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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