Jack Ma Steps In to Support Alibaba Shares Amid Heavy AI Spending

16:30 - 26.08.2026


August 26, Fineko/abc.az. Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma has joined top executives in purchasing company stock to stem a sharp sell-off triggered by rising artificial intelligence expenditure.

Purchasing over HKD 600 million ($76.5 million) worth of shares recently, Ma backed Chairman Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu's stock purchases of at least $25 million each. The surprise move provided relief to Alibaba shares on Wednesday, boosting prices by up to 3.2%.

The selling pressure followed Alibaba's record HKD 80 billion ($10.2 billion) secondary share offering aimed at funding its ambition for global AI leadership. Undertaking China's most aggressive AI infrastructure push, the company has committed over 380 billion yuan ($56.5 billion) over three years to develop data centers, chip design, and large language models. CEO Eddie Wu highlighted that AI-related product revenues are approaching $10 billion on an annualized basis this quarter, with the full investment expected to pay off within three years.