Chinese online commerce company Alibaba went public this month in the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO), raising US$25 billion in all.

The stock was priced at US$68 in its IPO but shot up almost 40 per cent in its debut on Friday to close at US$93.30, making it among the most valuable tech firms on the globe — and earning its early shareholders a small fortune.

Here are some of the company’s biggest shareholders and the windfalls they are reaping from Alibaba’s listing (amounts before greenshoe):

Pedestrians walk in front of a shop of Japan’s mobile carrier SoftBank in Tokyo on June 11, 2013. — PHOTO: AFP

The Japanese telco has become Alibaba’s biggest shareholder with a 32.4 per cent stake, or nearly 800 million shares. It opted not to sell any shares in Alibaba’s IPO, leaving its shareholding in the Chinese company worth about US$74 billion.

- Stake sold in IPO: None

- Remaining stake: 32.4%

- Value of remaining stake: US$74.4 billion

The Yahoo! Inc. logo is displayed on a flag flying at the company’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, US, on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. — PHOTO: REUTERS

Yahoo acquired its stake in Alibaba for US$1 billion in 2005, and has made back its initial investment many times over. The Internet company raked in US$8.3 billion by selling some of its Alibaba shares in the recent IPO, and is likely to have garnered another US$1.2 billion by selling another 18.3 million shares in the IPO greenshoe: additional shares set aside to meet investor demand.

- Stake sold in IPO, excluding greenshoe: 4.9%

- Value of stake sold: US$8.3 billion

- Remaining stake: 16.3%

- Value of remaining stake: US$37.5 billion

Founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma celebrates as the Alibaba stock goes live during the company’s initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange on Sept 19, 2014 in New York City. — PHOTO: AFP

The founder and chairman of Alibaba is now the richest man in China. Not only did he pocket US$867 million in cash by selling a 0.5 per cent stake in Alibaba in the IPO, and another US$184 million in the greenshoe, his remaining shares in the company are worth some US$18 billion going by Friday’s price. Not bad for a former English teacher and translator.

- Stake sold in IPO, excluding greenshoe: 0.5%

- Value of stake sold: US$867 million

- Remaining stake: 7.8%

- Value of remaining stake: US$18 billion

4. Temasek Holdings

— PHOTO: ST FILE

Pavilion Capital Fund Holdings, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, is listed among Alibaba’s top 15 investors, with a post-IPO stake valued at US$120 million. It is likely, however, that Temasek owns other stakes in Alibaba through separate entities.

Temasek was one of four investors who took a stake in Alibaba worth US$1.6 billion in 2011; Temasek’s share was about US$300 million to US$400 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Back then, that investment valued Alibaba at US$32 billion — one seventh of its actual US$225 billion market capitalisation as of last Friday.

Temasek is also said to be among a group of about two dozen investors who bought convertible preferred shares in Alibaba through a US$1.7 billion private offering in 2012, according to a separate WSJ report. These shares automatically converted to common shares at US$18.50 each when the IPO took place, giving this group of investors a combined 4 per cent stake in Alibaba valued at about US$6.2 billion.

For Pavilion Capital Fund Holdings:

- Stake sold in IPO: About 600,000 shares

- Value of stake sold: US$44 million

- Remaining stake: 0.1%

- Value of remaining stake: US$120 million

— PHOTO: ST FILE

GIC is not listed as one of Alibaba’s top shareholders in the company’s IPO prospectus, but the Singapore investment firm was reported to be part of the group that invested in Alibaba’s convertible preferred shares in 2012.

GIC is also reported to own a stake in Alibaba apart from its convertible preferred shares investment. It is not known what GIC’s stake in Alibaba is, but it would have made a profit of US$74.80 per share on the convertible stake alone based on last Friday’s closing price.

Note: Shareholdings are calculated before exercise of greenshoe option

Source: Alibaba prospectus