Key points
- An Alibaba executive sold about $12 million of stock
- The chairman and CEO bought in August
- A new law put these trades on the record
Alibaba Group (BABA) chief people officer Jiang Fang sold about $12 million of the company's stock in Hong Kong on Sept. 30, about five weeks after its chairman and CEO bought shares at higher prices.
A Form 4 filed Friday, also listed on our insider trading tracker, shows she sold 885,272 ordinary shares at HK$105.70 to HK$107.00 each. The weighted-average price was equivalent to US$13.55 per share.
Each Alibaba American depositary share traded in New York represents eight ordinary shares. That puts the sale at the equivalent of about 110,700 ADSs, at about $108 apiece.
What did Jiang Fang sell?
The filing reports the shares as an open-market sale. It doesn't say the sale was made under a pre-arranged trading plan, and it isn't described as a tax withholding sale.
Her earlier sales this year were smaller and tied to taxes. In March, June, and September, Jiang sold blocks of 16,848, 4,898, and 4,889 shares. Her Form 4s say those shares were "withheld and sold in the open market in Hong Kong on behalf of the reporting person to satisfy tax withholding obligations" when her restricted stock units vested.
After the Sept. 30 sale, Jiang directly held 4,679,097 ordinary shares and another 23,116,864 through a trust, according to the filing. The shares she sold were about 3% of what she reported owning before the sale.
Who bought Alibaba shares in August?
Chairman Joseph Tsai bought 720,000 ordinary shares on Aug. 24 at $14.29 and another 720,000 on Aug. 25 at $14.47, according to his Form 4s. That's about $20.7 million in total.
Chief Executive Eddie Wu bought 350,000 ordinary shares on Aug. 24 at an average of $14.24, or about $5.0 million, his filing shows. Jiang's $13.55 average sale price is below what both men paid.
Why do Alibaba executives file Form 4s now?
Until this year, directors and officers of foreign companies listed in the U.S., like Alibaba, didn't have to report their trades on Form 4. The Holding Foreign Insiders Accountable Act changed that. Starting March 18, 2026, those insiders must report most trades within two business days.
Alibaba's insiders filed 13 initial ownership reports, on Form 3, on that date. That gives investors only a short history of Alibaba insider transactions reported through the SEC's Form 4 system.
Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares were down 2.0% at $105.28 as of 11:57 a.m. ET Friday. The company also faces a shareholder lawsuit with an Oct. 5 deadline for investors seeking to lead the case.
