Alibaba discloses key partners in IPO, updated financials
The partners will have a strong hand in setting the course for the Chinese e-retailing giant by picking its directors.
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Alibaba unveiled the names of the 27 partners that will determine who will serve as a director on the board of the Chinese e-retailing giant once the company goes public.
In an updated filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Alibaba for the first time listed all 27 names, which include 22 employees such as CEO and founder Jack Ma.
The amended document also gave Alibaba the chance to provide an update to its full fiscal 2014 results, including its financials for the three months that ended March 31.
Having filed for its initial public offering in the US, Alibaba is poised for what could be the biggest market debut in corporate history. While the Chinese company is massive, it is relatively unknown here, and has only recently started to break in the US market. The SEC filing provides the public with a glimpse into one of the world's largest e-commerce providers, which could eventually spar with Amazon.
Alibaba has chosen to employ a unique partnership model, which was formalized in 2010 and which will continue once the company goes public. It argues that the model is more fair than a dual-class stock structure, in which only a handful of insiders control the company with a different class of more influential stock. The company said it will elect new partners each year.
Alibaba also shed a little more light on its earnings. For the fiscal year ended March 31, Allibaba saw its revenue rise more than 50 percent to $8.45 billion. Its profits, meanwhile, nearly tripled to $3.75 billion. The company had previously provided financial figures for only the first nine months of its fiscal year, with results up to the end of December.
The company's continued strong performance will be critical to its desires for a vigorous IPO.
Alibaba also listed its directors for the first time. In addition to Ma, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who is attempting to merge SoftBank's Sprint business with T-Mobile, will serve on the board. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang will also be a director.