Billionaire Soros sells most of Alibaba, reduces oil stocks
NEW YORK, Aug 15 — Billionaire George Soros’s family office sold almost all of its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd in the second quarter, as Asia’s largest Internet company saw its stock decline further because of a slowing Chinese economy.
Soros Fund Management owned about US$370 million (RM1.5 billion) of Alibaba’s American depositary receipts at the end of the first quarter. As of June 30, it held a stake worth US$4.9 million, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. Alibaba has lost about US$100 billion of its value since November’s record high.
Soros’s firm trimmed its energy holdings during the quarter. Crude oil reached highs for the year in June, peaking at about US$60 a barrel, before plummeting to current levels of about US$42. The family office sold off its stakes in Cenovus Energy Inc and Suncor Energy Inc and reduced its holdings in EQT Corp and Noble Energy Inc.
The family office, which overseas about $30 billion, bought a new stake in Time Warner Cable Inc., making the company it’s second-largest U.S. stock holding. The company is awaiting regulatory clearance to merge with Charter Communications Inc. The position was worth $259 million at the end of the quarter. — Bloomberg
