Alibaba’s Debut Makes History Amid Wall Street Chaos

Look out world: there’s a new play­er on the market.

Aliba­ba, a Chi­nese e‑commerce busi­ness group, had its IPO last Fri­day and quick­ly became one of the high­est-val­ued com­pa­nies on the open mar­ket. The com­pa­ny shat­tered expec­ta­tions, as its val­ue rose 38% before the end of the first day and closed at over $92 a share. Alibaba’s IPO is one the largest in the his­to­ry of the stock mar­ket, and the com­pa­ny is report­ed­ly worth more than rivals Ama­zon and Ebay com­bined.

Jack Ma, the founder of Aliba­ba, did­n’t tem­per expec­ta­tions of his com­pa­ny. In fact, he said that he wants Aliba­ba to become big­ger than Wal­mart and even­tu­al­ly become the world’s largest retailer.

Alibaba’s IPO comes in the midst of mass protests in New York City. Pro­test­ers filled city streets to advo­cate for cli­mate change aware­ness, yet noth­ing seemed to dis­rupt Alibaba’s ascent to the top of the stock market.

Aliba­ba employ­ees attend­ed the open­ing bell cer­e­mo­ny at the New York Stock Exchange to cel­e­brate their com­pa­ny’s IPO. Aliba­ba employs over 25,000 peo­ple world­wide. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) 

Aliba­ba stock opened at a val­ue of $92.70, one of the high­est open­ing prices in stock mar­ket his­to­ry. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) 

Jack Ma, the founder of Aliba­ba, can’t con­tain his excite­ment as his com­pa­ny goes pub­lic at the New York Stock Exchange. Ma has a report­ed net worth of over $20 bil­lion. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) 

Aliba­ba founder Jack Ma gives the “thumbs-up” to pho­tog­ra­phers out­side the New York Stock Exchange. Ma’s com­pa­ny pulled in over $3 bil­lion in prof­it last year, and is report­ed­ly worth more than Ama­zon and Face­book. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow) 

Aliba­ba stock con­tin­ued to surge despite mass protests out­side the New York Stock Exchange. The protests came a day after a mas­sive cli­mate change aware­ness march took place in New York City (AP Photo/John Minchillo)