Alibaba IPO explodes into life, starts trading much higher than expected at $93 per share

15 years after first starting up, China’s top ecommerce company, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), today listed on the New York Stock Exchange in a huge, record-breaking IPO.

After earlier pegging its shares at $68 a piece, Alibaba actually debuted – just over two hours after markets opened – at $92.70 per share. The shares nearly hit $100 in the opening few minutes before settling down to $94 at the time of publishing.

And it's started… #AlibabaIPO #NYSE pic.twitter.com/Fw122tvHJf

— Michelle Fleury (@BizFleury) September 19, 2014

Alibaba raised more than Facebook did in its IPO in 2012. While Facebook netted US$16 billion, Alibaba walks away with about US$21.8 billion from this IPO.

The ecommerce company, which makes most of its money from the Taobao and Tmall estores in China, is now worth more than Amazon, effectively valued at about US$230 billion thanks to its explosive debut.

Read more on Alibaba:

• Jack Ma’s last speech as Alibaba CEO

• Jack Ma is now China’s richest person. How far is he from becoming the richest on earth?

• How Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent will dominate China’s movie industry in 3 years

• 11 Main, Alibaba’s first consumer-facing ecommerce site in the US, launches in beta