The news that Ant Financial finally closed its new funding round, after adjusting its target (upwards) a number of times, is spread across the world.
The US$14 billion round values the company at US$150 billion, well ahead of many well established financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, as this CNBC article has highlighted:
Well, Goldman Sachs is not the only company Ant Financial eclipsed. Baidu, formerly part of the BAT (Baidu Alibaba Tencent) trio, has also been overtaken. As of last Friday close, Baidu’s market cap is at US$91.59 billion, well behind the price tag investors put on Ant Financial.
Even Xiaomi, seen for a long time as a low margin phone brand, is now filing for IPO at a valuation that is comparable to Baidu’s.
We have written about Baidu’s woes at TLD a few times. Here is the refresher:
- Was Lu Qi purged from Baidu? We find this theory interesting
- Baidu shakes further, which is good news for AI startups
- Why Baidu fell behind Alibaba & Tencent (and what can be done about it)
Morale of the story? Well, the aggressiveness of Alibaba, although disliked by many, is probably paying off, especially compared to some other companies which just sat on cash cows.
