This Week in Tech: Tesla, SolarCity, Alibaba, and More

Jack Ma Does Damage Control

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) CEO Jack Ma penned an article in the Wall Street Journal this week, writing that counterfeit goods have no place in Alibaba. Ma originally got into hot water after stating that some counterfeit goods offered better quality at lower prices than the existing brands. Although that may certainly be true, the statement wasn’t something that investors wanted to hear given China’s past problems with intellectual property protection. Ma later clarified that his comments were taken out of context and that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) has zero tolerance for the goods. Bulls hope Jack Ma’s article will go a long way in improving the company’s image and shoring up the bullish sentiment on the stock. A total of 67 funds from our database had a long position in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) at the end of the first quarter, down by 10 funds from the previous quarter.

Facebook Hires Key Executive for Infrastructure Connectivity Unit

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) made some waves this week by hiring Kevin Lo to be the director of its Infrastructure Connectivity and Investments segment. Lo was a co-founder of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s Google Fiber initiative, which aims to provide faster internet speeds to customers than traditional cable companies. Despite the hire, Facebook says it won’t get into the internet service provider business. The company will instead use Lo to provide more connectivity to urban areas and other geographies that will help Facebook indirectly increase its ad revenues and profits.

However, the big news involving Facebook this week was the shareholder meeting held on Monday, during which stockholders approved a new, class C, non-voting shares that will be distributed as two for each class A and class B shares owned by shareholders. The new class of stock will be traded under a separate ticker and the move will allow Mark Zuckerberg to give away his wealth without losing control of Facebook. Among the funds tracked by us, 164 funds had a bullish position in Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and 155 elite funds were long Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s class A at the end of the first quarter.

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