Did Jack Ma Just Spend $193M on a Hong Kong Home?

Alibaba’s Jack Ma may be the hero of Hangzhou, but following his company’s $25 billion IPO last year, the Chinese tech giant appears to have picked up a pied-a-terre in Hong Kong.

Ma is reported by the South China Morning Post to have recently paid HK$1.5 billion ($193 million) for a 9,000 square foot (836 square metre) home at 22 Barker Road on Victoria Peak.

At a reported HK$151,653 ($19,553) per square foot the former school teacher would now own what is said to be the world’s second most expensive home on a per square foot basis, and one of the priciest overall in Hong Kong.

Tech Guys Trade a Peak Home

The four-storey residence was put up for sale by Francis Yuen, the former deputy chairman of Francis Yuen of Hong Kong telecom and technology concern PCCW, who purchased the 70-year-old house in 2000 for HK$163.6 million ($21 million).

The home, which occupies a 33,500 square foot (3113 square metre) site, was formerly the home of the Belgian consul, and is just down the street from the current US consul’s residence. The property has a 20,000 square foot garden and 270-degree views of Victoria Harbour.

Should the transaction be confirmed, it would be the second major home purchase by Ma this year, after he purchased a 28,100 acre estate in upstate New York that formerly belonged to the Rockefeller family.