NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd founder Jack Ma wants to keep a tight grip on the Chinese e-commerce company he founded even after he takes it public, and US law gives him several ways to do so.
The company had planned to list in Hong Kong, but the exchange there threw cold water on Ma's plan to give Alibaba's insiders, who only own about 10% of the stock, the power to nominate a majority of the board, sources say. Regulators in the Chinese territory said that all shareholders must be treated equally.