The Biggest IPO In U.S. History: Alibaba Goes Public

On Friday morning, Wall Street witnessed the biggest IPO (International Public Offering) in U.S. history. Shares of the Chinese e-commerce mega tech company, Alibaba started trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday after pricing at $68 a piece on Thursday evening. According to Fortune.com, shares in Alibaba opened significantly higher, at $92.70.

The tech website which hosts three main sites: Taobao, Tmall and Alibaba.com could rise above the most popular online shopping site, Amazon.

The stock offering is expected to raise at least $21.8 billion. As reported by Fortune.com, the stock sale places the company in the ranks of the most valuable Internet companies with a market capitalization of some $168 billion, exceeding industry standard bearers like Amazon YHOO 0.40% and Twitter TWTR 0.53%.

Alibaba’s CEO and executive chairman, Jack Ma stood on the NYSE trading floor Friday morning as eight Alibaba customers, including an American cherry farmer and a Chinese Olympian, rang the opening bell from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.