马云阿里巴巴帝国的扩张

As Alibaba prepares for its North American IPO, Jack Ma is busy transforming his E-commerce giant into an entertainment powerhouse, too. Some financial analysts have questioned Ma’s expansion strategy. Others say it could produce the biggest IPO in US history.

Following the recent partnership between Lionsgate and Ma’s Alibaba Group that will provide a subscription streaming service to Mainland set-top boxes, consumers will be able to watch Hollywood flicks such as "Twilight” and TV shows such as "Mad Men."

The venture moves Ma deeper into the digital entertainment business, as the Chinese Internet giant prepares for its US$26 billion listing.

"Alibaba is becoming a lifestyle company. Alibaba is getting involved in the area of finance and banking and it is turning itself into a multi-generational and financial company very similar to what Disney has become," said Paul Schulte, founder of independent research firm Schulte Research.

Ma has made several big money purchases recently. In June, he bought a 50 percent stake in Guangdong Evergrande Football Club for nearly US$200 million. He also spent US$1.5 billion buying AutoNavi Holdings, China’s most popular mobile mapping service. Ma’s holdings now include stakes in the Chinese department store operator Intime Retail Group and China’s Twitter-like microblogging platform Weibo. The pace of Ma’s acquisitions has raised questions about Alibaba’s expansion strategy at one of China’s largest banks.

"Their buying up a bunch of diversified businesses may be a sign suggesting that they’re mindful their growth is slowing down. So we’re looking at a very good company but whether we’re looking at a great stock with good valuations, that’s a different story," said Bank of Communications managing director research Hao Hong.

Stephen Qin, 24, has been a Weibo user for two years. He says he is aware that Ma had already bought a stake in the micro-blogging service. Qin also shops online via Tmall and Taobao, both owned by Alibaba.

"On the Mainland, everyone knows Jack Ma. He is famous and talented. We admire him very much," Qin said.

Analysts say Alibaba’s purchases are all lining up to turn the smartphone into a multi-generational product-catering to lifestyle, banking, investment, entertainment and consumer purchases.

"The capacity for synergy is simply astounding and what’s going to happen to the telephone with the technologies that is going to be coming out are already going to be breathtaking," Schulte said.

Analysts say Alibaba’s IPO could push the company’s value as high as US$245 billion dollars, making Alibaba one the most valuable Internet companies in the world. Only Google would be worth more.