Jack Ma Warns Alibaba Faces Its Most Dangerous Moment

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By Bloomberg News

Just two months after its record initial public offering, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) is facing its "most dangerous moment," according to founder Jack Ma.

That's because people may be expecting too much from China's biggest e-commerce company since its IPO, said Ma, who is known for often peppering his speeches with controversial comments.

Bond Sale
The e-commerce giant is also planning to raise as much as $8 billion as soon as this week in its first U.S. bond sale, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The company will use the proceeds to refinance its credit facilities, according to a statement. The bonds will be rated A+, or the fifth highest investment-grade, by Standard & Poor's and an equivalent A1 by Moody's Investors Service.

Alibaba already has $11 billion in loans and credit lines, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Should Alibaba raise $8 billion, the bond sale would be the largest ever denominated in U.S. dollars in Asia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ma sees many opportunities for Alibaba around the world and doesn't want to compete with EBay Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. in the U.S.

"We invest in the future," Ma said. "Don't run after money. Money will run after people."

Alibaba already is the top shopping site in Russia and Brazil, markets where it currently has no employees. AliExpress, an Alibaba site for users outside China, has become the No. 1 shopping site in Russia, according to researcher TNS.

The company is also building its online payment system Alipay globally as it tries to process more digital sales for small businesses around the world.

Alipay has 17.9 million active users overseas in more than 100 countries and is accepted by 2,000 merchants overseas, Sabrina Peng, vice president for Alibaba's finance arm's international business, said in October.

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