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The Economic Times

National

Piyush Shukla

SoftBank invested $20 million in Alibaba in 2000. 14 years later, that tiny stake was worth more than $50 billion after its blockbuster IPO

Alibaba Jack Ma Masayoshi Son SoftBank IPO

Masayoshi Son put $20 million into Alibaba in 2000, when Jack Ma was still trying to convince investors that his online marketplace could work. The company had little revenue, and its future was far from certain. Fourteen years later, Alibaba's stock market debut turned Son's early investment into one of the best-known deals in technology history. What Son saw in the company before most investors did is what makes the story worth looking at.

Jack Ma struggled to find investors until Masayoshi son saw an opportunity

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