Jack Ma’s Ant IPO lures US$2.8 trillion in growing investor frenzy

Market focus: People walk past Ant Group mascot at the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou. Whether Ant surges or not, its record-breaking IPO represents a major vote of confidence in a company that could end up shaping the future of global finance. — Bloomberg

CHEN Wu frantically clicked the order button on his online brokerage account as the clock struck noon.

Like thousands of individual investors in Hong Kong and across China, the 35-year-old software developer was desperate for a piece of Ant Group Co’s initial public offering (IPO). His brokerage was allowing a small number of clients to supercharge their bets on Ant using 33 times leverage, and the offer was only available on a first-come, first-served basis. Wu had to act fast.