Alibaba surges on debut

When shares in the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba began trading at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, a celebratory vibe accompanied the initial public offering poised to be history's biggest.

Bright orange banners had been unfurled around the exchange and Alibaba's logo could be seen on traders' computer screens before more than 100 million shares changed hands in the first 10 minutes alone.

The excitement was well-founded too - shares opened at $92.70 (72.22 euros), a 36 percent jump from the company's initial public offering price of $68. That surge lifted Alibaba's market value to $244 billion.

If underwriters exercise their right to sell 48 million more shares in Alibaba, something that the head of NYSE's global listing business, Scott Cutler, has said is likely to happen, it would elevate the IPO's size to $25 billion - more than any other listing in history.

The company is already worth more than big American names like Coca-Cola and Disney, and its staggering success on Wall Street is indicative of a broader trend in the tech industry, namely an impending Chinese dominance.

Largely unknown to Americans, Alibaba has edged other major online retailers, such as eBay and Amazon, out of the Chinese market, where it controls 80 percent of online sales.

Founded by the ebullient entrepreneur Jack Ma in 1999, Alibaba has since blossomed into an entity generating $3.7 billion a year. Ma, a former English teacher, first ran the company out of his apartment. As of today, he enjoys a personal fortune worth more than $14 billion.

Ma looked on as some of Alibaba's long-time customers rang the opening bell at the exchange, telling broadcaster CNBC he wanted to make sure his customers were earning some money.

"I don't want disappointed shareholders," he said.