Alibaba float reaches record $25 billion

The float of Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has officially become the world’s biggest, as the sale of additional shares took the amount raised to more than $25 billion (£15.3 billion).

Friday’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange initially raised $21.8 billion but underwriters have sold an extra 48 million shares, according to Reuters, pushing it above the previous record of $22.1 billion set by Agricultural Bank of China in 2010.

Alibaba’s co-founder and chairman, former schoolteacher Jack Ma, sold an extra 2.7 million shares — netting him a further $184 million.

The company itself sold another 26.1 million shares and Yahoo disposed of 18.3 million, banking them $1.8 billion and $1.2 billion respectively.

Shares in the firm started trading on Friday at $92.70 a share, more than a third higher than the listing price of $68, before closing the day at $93.89.

“I don’t want disappointed shareholders,” said Ma, now worth more than $14 billion, on Friday. “I want to make sure they make money.”