Recent market news suggests that Alibaba Group founders Jack Ma and Jonathan Tsai have recently increased their holdings in Alibaba stock significantly. Tsai's family fund, Blue Pool, reportedly added $150 million worth of Alibaba shares. Meanwhile, Jack Ma also made a large increase in his holdings, but the exact amount was not disclosed. This action is seen as a positive view of Alibaba's prospects and a sign of confidence in the company's future growth, management team and strategic direction. In addition, Alibaba conducted a massive share buyback in 2023, totaling $9.5 billion, making it the largest buyback among Chinese internet companies.
Previous news about Jack Ma's family trust's plan to reduce its holdings of Alibaba shares has caused widespread market discussion. On November 16 last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website disclosure of the F144 form shows that the Ma family trust plans to reduce its holdings of 10 million shares of Alibaba stock, with a market value of more than 870 million U.S. dollars. In response to this plan to reduce its holdings, lawyers from Jack Ma's office responded on the evening of November 17th, pointing out that the announced sale is part of a long-term strategy. Jack Ma holds strong confidence in Alibaba, believing that the current share price is far below the company's actual value, and will continue to firmly hold Alibaba shares.
On November 16 last year, Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA, HKSE: 09988.HK) announced its second quarterly financial results for the fiscal year 2024 ending September 30, 2023, the company said. The report showed that Alibaba's revenue for the quarter reached 224.79 billion yuan, up 9% year-on-year, beating market expectations of 224.096 billion yuan. Its Non-GAAP net profit was 40.188 billion yuan, up 19 percent year-on-year. On a non-GAAP basis, diluted earnings per ADS reached RMB 15.63, up 21% year-on-year.
Regarding the Jack Ma Family Trust's plan to reduce its holdings of Alibaba shares, Alibaba Group Partner and Chief Talent Officer Fang Jiang responded in a post on the company's intranet. Jiang Fang pointed out that Jack Ma's office signed a contract with a stockbroker in August of this year to reduce its holdings in order to comply with U.S. SEC 10b5-1, which requires company directors and senior management to submit a plan of sale at least three months in advance, and the date of the sale is no earlier than two business days after the release of quarterly results. As a result, the plan to sell down was released on Nov. 16, a previously set time for disclosure, but stockbrokers were unaware that the date coincided with the company's earnings release, which led to misunderstandings.
Cai Chongxin, then chairman of Alibaba Group, also commented under the article, "I've been in the company for almost 25 years, and Alibaba has been facing all sorts of questions and challenges from the beginning until now. But we persisted as always, and carried through one difficulty after another in the midst of doubts and challenges. Because Alibaba's gene is to believe that the future will be better."