Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Ālǐbābā Jítuán
Bopomofo	ㄚㄌㄧˇ ㄅㄚㄅㄚㄐㄧˊ ㄊㄨㄢˊ
Gwoyeu Romatzyh	Aliibaba Jyitwan
Wade–Giles	A¹-li³-pa¹-pa¹ Chi²-t'uan²
Tongyong Pinyin	A-lǐ-ba-ba Jí-tuán
IPA	[á.lì.pá.pá tɕǐ.tʰu̯ǎn]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	Aléihbābā Jaahptyùhn
IPA	[āː lɵ̬y páː páː tsàːp̚ tʰy̏ːn]
Jyutping	aa3 leoi5 baa1 baa1 zaap6 tyun4

Dunganese name

Dungan

Алибаба Җитуан

Alibaba Group is a giant Chinese technology company that is known all over the world. It focuses on e-commerce (selling things online), retail, the internet, and technology. The company was started on June 28, 1999, in the city of Hangzhou, China, by a group of people led by Jack Ma.

Alibaba provides many services that help people and businesses buy and sell things online. It has websites where individual people can sell to each other, businesses can sell to customers, and businesses can sell to other businesses. The company also offers services like cloud computing (storing data on the internet), digital entertainment, and package delivery.

On September 19, 2014, Alibaba had its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. An IPO is when a private company first sells shares of itself to the public. Alibaba's IPO was the biggest in history at the time, raising US$25 billion. This made the company worth US$231 billion. Today, Alibaba is one of the most valuable and largest companies in the world. It is also one of the world's biggest retailers and e-commerce companies.

The Story Behind the Name
The History of Alibaba
Corporate Affairs
Alibaba's Many Companies
Corporate Leadership
Helping Society
Images for kids
See also

The Story Behind the Name

The company's name, Alibaba, comes from the character Ali Baba in the famous story collection One Thousand and One Nights. The founder, Jack Ma, chose this name because people all over the world know the story.

He once told a story about how he picked the name:

One day I was in San Francisco in a coffee shop, and I was thinking Alibaba is a good name. And then a waitress came, and I said do you know about Alibaba? And she said yes. I said what do you know about Alibaba, and she said 'Open Sesame.' And I said yes, this is the name! ... People from India, people from Germany, people from Tokyo and China... They all knew about Alibaba. Alibaba—open sesame. Alibaba is a kind, smart business person, and he helped the village. So... easy to spell, and global... Alibaba opens sesame for small- to medium-sized companies.

The phrase "Open Sesame" from the story is about opening a secret cave full of treasure. Jack Ma wanted his company to open up opportunities for small businesses around the world.

The History of Alibaba

How It All Started

On June 28, 1999, Jack Ma and 17 of his friends and students started Alibaba.com in his apartment in Hangzhou. Their goal was to create a website where Chinese businesses could sell their products to companies in other countries. This is called a B2B marketplace.

In 2002, the website started making a profit. A year later, Alibaba launched new platforms, including Taobao Marketplace for people to sell to each other, and Alipay for making secure online payments.

When the American company eBay tried to expand in China, Alibaba saw them as a competitor. Taobao became more popular than eBay in China because it was free for sellers to use and was designed for local customers. Eventually, eBay closed its main website in China.

Growing Bigger

In 2005, the American company Yahoo! invested US$1 billion in Alibaba, buying a large part of the company. This was a huge deal that helped Alibaba grow even more.

On September 19, 2014, Alibaba had its initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. This was a massive event that raised US$25 billion, making it the biggest IPO in history at that time. This showed how big and important Alibaba had become on the world stage.

In January 2017, Alibaba became a major sponsor of the Olympic Games, signing a deal that will last until 2028. In 2018, Jack Ma announced he would step down as the company's chairman to focus on charity work.

New Rules and Changes

In November 2019, Alibaba had a second major stock listing, this time in Hong Kong, which raised almost US$13 billion. The following year, the Chinese government introduced new rules for large tech companies to make sure there was fair competition in the market. This led to changes for Alibaba and other tech giants.

In March 2023, Alibaba announced a major change in its structure. It split the company into six smaller, independent business groups. These groups are:

Cloud Intelligence Group
Taobao and Tmall Group
Cainiao Smart Logistics Network
Local Services Group
Alibaba International Digital Commerce
Digital Media and Entertainment Group

Each group now has its own leader and can raise its own money. This change was made to help each part of the business grow faster and be more flexible.

Corporate Affairs

The table below shows some key financial numbers for Alibaba over the years. This helps to see how the company has grown.

	Revenue (US$ bn)	Net income (US$ bn)	Employees (k)
2016	15.6	11.0	36.4
2017	22.9	6.3	50.0
2018	39.8	10.1	66.4
2019	56.1	13.0	101
2020	71.9	21.1	117
2021	109	22.9	251
2022	134	9.8	254
2023	126	10.5	235
2024	130	11.0	205

Alibaba's Many Companies

Alibaba owns many different companies and services that are used by millions of people every day.

Online Shopping Websites

Alibaba group headquarters

Alibaba's most famous services are its e-commerce websites.

Alibaba.com: This was the company's first website. It's a platform where businesses buy and sell products in large quantities from each other.
Taobao: Launched in 2003, Taobao is a huge online marketplace where individuals and small businesses sell products directly to customers. It's one of the most popular websites in China.
Tmall: This site is for bigger, well-known brands to sell their products to customers. It's like a giant online shopping mall with official stores from companies like Nike and Apple.
AliExpress: This platform allows businesses in China to sell products to customers all over the world. It's very popular in countries like Russia, Brazil, and Spain.
Freshippo (Hema): These are high-tech supermarkets in China. Customers can shop in the store or order online through an app for delivery in just 30 minutes.

Fast and Smart Delivery

To deliver all the packages ordered on its websites, Alibaba helped create a logistics company called Cainiao in 2013. Cainiao works with many delivery companies to make sure packages get to customers quickly and efficiently. Alibaba has invested billions of dollars to build a smart logistics network not just in China, but around the world.

Cloud Computing and AI

Food ordered with Alipay

Alibaba is a leader in technology beyond just shopping.

Alibaba Cloud: Launched in 2009, this is one of the biggest cloud computing services in the world. It provides data storage, processing power, and other web services to businesses.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): Alibaba uses AI in many ways, from recommending products to shoppers to managing city traffic with its "City Brain" technology. In 2023, the company announced its own AI chatbot called Tongyi Qianwen, similar to ChatGPT.

Entertainment and Media

Alibaba also owns companies in the entertainment industry.

Alibaba Pictures: This is a film company that produces and invests in movies.
Youku: This is one of China's biggest video-streaming websites, like YouTube. People can watch TV shows, movies, and other videos on it.
AliMusic: This is Alibaba's music division, which includes music streaming apps.

Online Payments

Alipay was launched in 2004 as a safe way to pay for things online. When you buy something, Alipay holds the money until you receive your item and are happy with it. This built a lot of trust among online shoppers.

Alipay is now part of a larger company called Ant Group, which is one of the most valuable financial technology (fintech) companies in the world. Besides payments, Ant Group also offers services like savings accounts and small loans.

Corporate Leadership

Jack Ma, founder and the former executive chairman of the Alibaba Group

Alibaba's main founder, Jack Ma, was the executive chairman of the company until he stepped down on September 10, 2019. He wanted to focus on philanthropy and education.

The company is now led by Joseph Tsai as the chairman and Eddie Wu as the CEO. They are responsible for guiding the company's strategy and daily operations.

Helping Society

Alibaba is involved in many projects to help society.

Rural Taobao: In 2014, Alibaba started a program to help people in rural parts of China. It helps them buy products online that are usually only available in cities. It also helps farmers sell their crops to a wider market online.
Supporting Women: Alibaba actively promotes the hiring of women. About half of its employees are women, and many women hold leadership positions in the company.
Smart Cities: Alibaba works with its home city of Hangzhou to use technology to improve city life. This includes creating a "cashless city" where most payments are made with phones.

Images for kids

Alibaba Binjiang Campus in Hangzhou, headquarters for Alibaba's B2B service
Lazada warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna, Philippines during the company's 11.11 sale promotion in 2018. Lazada Group is a subsidiary of Alibaba Group.

Alibaba Group facts for kids

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