Alibaba Group now Asia’s richest company

Alibaba Group Holding has surpassed Tencent Holdings and China Mobile in market capitalisation to become Asia’s richest company.

Alibaba’s market value rose to US$261 billion in New York last week, overtaking Tencent’s US$255.98 billion capitalisation in Hong Kong on Thursday during a trading week shortened by a public holiday.

China Mobile was the region’s third-largest company, valued at $249.38 billion.

Alibaba’s shares have risen 28.8 per cent this year to $104.64, making the owner of Taobao.com and Tmall eCommerce platforms the world’s 10th-largest company by value, according to Bloomberg data. The world’s five most valuable companies now gain their revenue from technology or the internet – Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft Corp, Facebook and Amazon.com.

In Asia, technology and internet-related businesses have displaced oil refineries, manufacturers and banks in the top three spots.

Samsung Electronics of South Korea is the other technology company among Asia’s 10 most-valuable corporations, valued at $191.76 billion.

As well as eCommerce, Alibaba has businesses in internet finance, cloud computing, film investment and logistics. The Hangzhou-based company’s second-quarter revenue rose 59 per cent, the strongest since its 2014 initial public offering in New York.