Jack Ma's wife buys London villa for £19.5 m, FT reports

Alibaba (9988) founder Jack Ma Yun's wife Zhang Ying reportedly purchased a villa in London for £19.5 million (HK$199.3 million), which once served as the former Italian embassy, underscoring the billionaire's expansion of the international property portfolio, according to Financial Times.

This luxury property measures 7,948 square feet, with a cinema, a lift, and six bedrooms. It's recognized as the Grade II listed townhouse in the UK and once housed the office of the Italian Defence Attaché, the report said.

The initial asking price of the property was £21.5 million, and then sold for £19.5 million, marking the 34th highest transaction price in London, and the top 0.4 percent of the most expensive transactions in 2024, according to property data provider LonRes.

Last year, Zhang, as a Singaporean citizen, also spent around SG$45 million (HK$268.6 million) to SG$4550 million for three adjacent shophouses in Singapore, the report said.

These three properties are situated in the heart of the central business district and feature the rare 99-year leasehold tenure. With around 63.5 years remaining for lease, it presented a highly attractive investment value.

Besides, Blue Pool Capital, jointly owned by Ma and Alibaba's chairman Joe Tsai Chung-hsin, had acquired a duplex penthouse in New York for US$188 million (HK$1.46 billion) in 2022.

The property was previously purchased by hedge fund manager Dan Och in 2019 for US$95 million, which delivers a nearly double gain for holding the asset within three years.