Jack Ma Buys Lavish London Villa While Jumping Back Into Alibaba’s AI Push – Alibaba Gr Hldgs (NYSE:BABA), JD.com (NASDAQ:JD)
Jack Ma’s family has added another landmark to its growing global property empire, snapping up a 19.5 million pounds London villa — even as the Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) co-founder reasserts control over the tech giant’s artificial intelligence ambitions.
As Ma returns to steer Alibaba’s AI resurgence, his wife Cathy Ying Zhang has quietly expanded the family’s international real estate portfolio with the purchase of a historic Belgravia mansion in London.
Ma’s family has broadened its global real estate holdings with the acquisition of a historic London villa that once served as the Italian Embassy.
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Zhang transformed the Grade II–listed townhouse, spanning 7,948 square feet into a luxury residence featuring six bedrooms, a cinema, and an elevator.
Advertising materials reviewed by the Financial Times listed its asking price at 21.5 million pounds.
Beauchamp Estates, one of the selling agents, said the buyer was drawn by the property’s “prestigious location” and “high levels of security.”
The Belgravia purchase extends the Ma family’s growing portfolio of luxury properties outside China. In 2024, Zhang reportedly spent around 45 million Singapore dollars on three adjoining shophouses in Singapore. The family also owns a château and vineyards in France through a Hong Kong-based holding company and a mansion on Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak, previously a Belgian consul’s residence.
In 2015, Ma bought a 28,100-acre estate in New York’s Adirondacks for $23 million.
Ma has reclaimed a central role at Alibaba as the company accelerates its push into AI.
After years away during Beijing’s tech crackdown, Ma is once again driving Alibaba’s corporate strategy. Bloomberg reported that the internal revival effort carries the slogan “Make Alibaba Great Again.”
Following his 2020 speech criticizing regulators, which led to Ant Group’s suspended IPO, Ma kept a low profile as authorities imposed a record 18.2 billion yuan fine on Alibaba in 2021 for antitrust violations.
By 2023, Ma returned to Alibaba’s offices, meeting with executives and pushing AI development. He launched a 50 billion yuan subsidy program to counter JD.com Inc‘s (NASDAQ:JD) expansion and instructed senior leaders Eddie Wu, Joe Tsai, and Jiang Fan to prioritize AI and cloud investments.
Alibaba has committed over 380 billion yuan to AI and cloud infrastructure through 2027. The strategy is paying off — cloud revenue jumped 26% in one quarter, and Alibaba’s stock has surged over 94% year-to-date.
BABA Price Action: Alibaba Gr Hldgs shares were down 1.74% at $162.99 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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