George Soros has become one of Alibaba.com’s largest shareholders after buying into the company late last year, according to the Chinese e-commerce provider.
The involvement of the US billionaire investor was revealed on Friday by David Wei, chief executive of Alibaba.com.
It came as Alibaba Group, the website’s parent, said it was ready to buy out Yahoo, which holds a 39 per cent stake in the parent.
Alibaba.com’s shares rose 5 per cent to close at HK$15.82 in Hong Kong after rallying 11 per cent at one point. The shares have lagged other Hong Kong-listed stocks with a 13 per cent slide this year .