To Mark I.P.O., Alibaba to Make Gift to Its New Market Home

Photo
A doll patterned after the mascot for Alibaba's Taobao marketplace.Credit New York Stock Exchange

With the Alibaba Group poised to hold one of the biggest initial public offerings on record, the Chinese Internet giant plans to mark the momentous occasion in its own way.

Alibaba is expected to give a highly intricate “Tao doll,” patterned after the mascot for its Taobao marketplace, to the New York Stock Exchange on Friday morning, in what a person briefed on the matter said was meant as a sign of respect and a representation of China’s cultural heritage.

The doll — really a four-foot-tall, intricately decorated enamel statue — will be presented by Alibaba’s executive chairman and co-founder, Jack Ma, to the exchange’s president, Thomas Farley, at a breakfast before the ringing of the bell for the start of trading.

The gift is meant to be on behalf of Alibaba’s 26,000 employees and will be a rare publicly viewable permanent exhibit at the exchange.

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Many high-profile market companies making their market debuts have something extra to mark the occasion, though usually it’s the stock market that offers the gift. For instance, a rival e-commerce site, JD.com, received a golden bull commissioned by the Nasdaq stock market, while celebrities were on hand to usher Twitter onto the Big Board.

Alibaba is taking a different approach, one that the company thinks functions as a sort of cultural exchange with its adopted home market.

“This special presentation is consistent with Jack Ma’s humble and respectful approach, and belief in long-term partnerships,” the person briefed on the matter said.

First devised about five years ago, the Tao doll is normally a pint-size orange toy that looks like the cowlick-bearing big-headed mascot of the Taobao marketplace. (In the words of Alibaba’s own corporate blog, the doll looks “as if a New York Yankees bobblehead married Google’s green Android mascot and had a baby.”)

Still, the kitschy toy has become a popular collectible in China, a market that Alibaba has seized upon by creating hundreds of different models as promotional gifts. Tao dolls have been made into the cartoonish likenesses of sports stars, pandas and astrological signs, among other inspirations.

But the version for the New York Stock Exchange was meant to be more special, according to the person briefed on the matter. Mr. Ma personally commissioned a cloisonné version designed by himself and Li Rongkiu, a veteran designer of pieces made in that technique, in the tradition known as jingtailan.

Its design, including the Chinese character for tao on its chest, was inspired by Chinese mythological figures, like a fish dragon and two dragons with a pearl sphere, meant to represent China’s art heritage. Rather than the bright orange that is Alibaba’s signature color, however, Mr. Ma went with a more subdued and traditional blue.

A team of artisans spent a month using spatulas and brushes to apply finely ground colored powder to the doll before firing it in a kiln, working long hours to finish the gift in time for the I.P.O., this person said.

Mr. Ma had the doll — which together with its pedestal will stand roughly seven feet tall — quietly shipped to New York in time for the stock sale, kept in a special case as a disguise. While it is currently sitting in the New York Stock Exchange’s boardroom, it will eventually be placed elsewhere at the Big Board, though a spokeswoman for the exchange told DealBook that a permanent location had not been determined.

A smaller version, measuring 15.75 inches, will be kept on display at the exchange’s bell desk.

“The New York Stock Exchange is honored to receive this unique gift — an important symbol of Chinese culture, history, and of our partnership with Alibaba — as we welcome them to the home of the world’s best companies,” the exchange’s spokeswoman, Brookly McLaughlin, said.