Key points
- Alibaba has raised about HK$80 billion (US$10.2 billion) at HK$112.70 a share to fund its AI build-out — the largest follow-on offering on record by a Hong Kong-listed company.
- Michael Burry said on Sunday he will not move his money back into the stock: "I cannot bless share issuances." He had already rotated his entire Alibaba position into JD.com.
- On August 24, Alibaba's own CEO and director Wu Yongming reported buying 350,000 ordinary shares at a weighted-average $14.24 — roughly $5.0 million — inside the same price band as the placement.
Alibaba just asked the market for $10.2 billion to spend on artificial intelligence. One of the market's most famous skeptics answered by walking away for good — and one of the company's own insiders answered by writing a check.
What Alibaba actually sold
The company placed new shares in Hong Kong to raise about HK$80 billion, roughly US$10.2 billion, at HK$112.70 per share. That is a discount of about 8.4% to the HK$123 close before the deal was disclosed, and it is the biggest primary follow-on offering ever by a company listed in Hong Kong. Alibaba has said the net proceeds go to its "full stack" AI ambitions.
The raise lands on top of a heavy quarter. For the three months to June, Alibaba reported a 75% drop in profit against a 9% rise in revenue as AI-related capital spending ramped. Fortune reported the U.S.-listed shares are down 18.6% year to date after an 8.6% fall on Friday, with the Hong Kong line down 13.9% on the year.
That is the setup: heavy spending, thinner profit, and now dilution to pay for more of it.
Why Burry says he is done
Burry had disclosed an Alibaba position in April and then moved the entire stake into JD.com, saying at the time that he planned to rotate most of it back. The share sale ended that plan.
"I will not flip any of that back to #Alibaba, as issuing shares is now its new paradigm," he wrote, adding that the stock would have to fall by half before he would look again, and that he expects return on invested capital to keep declining. His objection is not the AI strategy — it is who pays for it. "I cannot bless share issuances."
It is a clean, old-fashioned capital-allocation complaint: every dollar raised this way buys growth with someone else's ownership.
The filing almost nobody is quoting
While the headlines carried Burry's exit, an SEC Form 4 hit EDGAR on August 24 that says the opposite about the same stock — from someone with far better information than any outside investor.
| Detail | As reported |
|---|---|
| Filer | Wu Yongming — Chief Executive Officer and director |
| Transaction | Code P — open-market purchase, not a planned or award-related trade |
| Date | August 24, 2026 |
| Size | 350,000 ordinary shares |
| Price | $14.24 weighted average (multiple fills, HK$110.70–112.40) |
| Value | About $5.0 million |
| Holdings after | 1,364,418 ordinary shares held directly, up from 1,014,418 before the purchase |
| Also disclosed | 108,000 shares held by spouse; 12,320,000 shares held by trust |
Two details make this more than a rounding error. First, the code: P is cash out of pocket at the market price — the one insider transaction type with no compensation story attached. Second, the price. Each U.S.-listed ADS represents eight ordinary shares, so the CEO's HK$110.70–112.40 fills sit right around the HK$112.70 placement price. He bought at the same level the company was selling to institutions.
One purchase does not settle an argument about dilution. But it is the sharpest possible disagreement with the market's reaction: the person running the AI build-out increased his directly held line by about a third the day after the deal was announced.
And what about JD?
Burry's money went to JD.com, so it is worth asking what the insider tape there says. On our filing record, the only recent JD Form 4s are two director filings dated August 14, and both are code M — the exercise or conversion of previously granted awards, reported at no cash price, not open-market buying.
So the rotation Burry describes has no insider-purchase confirmation on the receiving end either. Neither leg of the trade is backed by executives spending their own money — except the leg he sold.
The honest caveats
- Burry's positions are no longer verifiable in filings. Scion Asset Management was deregistered with the SEC in November 2025, and its final 13F was filed on November 3, 2025. Everything known about his current book comes from his own public statements — not a disclosure anyone can audit. Treat "Burry bought" and "Burry sold" accordingly.
- A single insider buy is not a thesis. $5.0 million is meaningful for an individual and immaterial for a company of Alibaba's size, and CEOs buy for reasons that include signaling.
- The share count is ordinary shares, not ADSs. Any comparison with the New York quote has to divide by eight, and any comparison with the Hong Kong price has to pass through the currency.
- The percentage moves above are as reported by Fortune on August 23, not our own calculation.
The bottom line
Burry's case is that Alibaba has decided shareholders will fund the AI race. The CEO's Form 4 is the counter-argument, and it is the version that came with money attached. Both landed within about a day of each other, which is as close to a live disagreement as this market gets.
The insider record is the part you can check yourself: Alibaba's filing history and insider activity is on its stock page, and the current open-market buying across the market is on Top Insider Scores.