Launched in 1999 by Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma, Alibaba rose quickly to become the leading platform for global wholesale, serving millions of customers around the world.
Within 20 years, Ma would become one of the wealthiest people on the planet, and his platform would have changed the international trading landscape. As well as being one of the largest ecommerce platforms, Alibaba is the world’s fifth largest AI company and the second largest financial services group behind only Visa. All of which translates to a market valuation in excess of USD 200bn.
Behind this phenomenal success is the company’s driving mission to make it easy to do business with every corner of the globe. Through its ecommerce, technology and financial services network, Alibaba gives suppliers the tools they need to reach an international audience while putting buyers within easy reach of millions of products in more than 190 countries.
Outside of its vast ecommerce, finance and tech divisions, Alibaba also provides a number of entertainment services, including ticketing, content creation and event management. The company also operates Alibaba Pictures Group formed after the USD 803m acquisition of the giant ChinaVision Media Group.
Alibaba is a communications powerhouse, too, having acquired Yahoo! China and launched DingTalk, an enterprise comms and collaboration platform.
In recent years, the company has taken great strides to expand its presence here in the UAE. Having signed an agreement with the emirate’s rulers in 2016, Alibaba opened its MENA regional headquarters in Dubai.
Since then, Alibaba has invested in several Emirati-based businesses, including logistics firm Aramex and retailer Daraz. In 2019, Alibaba signed a partnership agreement with the UAE government to develop the country’s ecommerce industry and help local businesses seize more international trade opportunities.
