Chinese celebrity Zhao Wei wins second Best Actress award for her role in the award-winning film "Dearest." (Photo : China Entertainment News)
Chinese actress Zhao Wei and her husband have decided to buy $400-million-worth of stake in the film unit of billionaire Jack Ma's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., a Hong Kong stocks exchange report revealed last week.
According to the filing dated Jan. 23, the couple have acquired 9.2 percent worth of stake in the Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. through the Gold Ocean Media Inc., a company managed by Zhao's husband, Huang Youlong.
Zhao, more popularly known as Vicky Zhao, is a close friend of the Hong Kong billionaire, says RHB Research Institute analyst Li Yujie.
He believes that Zhao's decision to buy stakes from Ma's film company would be beneficial to both of them, saying: "Ma hasn't had much experience in the movie business before so he would need help from people in the industry."
Zhao, who rose to fame for her roles in the film "Shaolin Soccer" and the TV series "Red Cliff," has recently posted photos of herself with the business tycoon where they can be seen painting together.
According to her post, Ma donated a hefty amount for her charity organization which she established to help disadvantaged children.
Meanwhile, a recent report revealed that the Chinese film company would soon be declaring a loss of over $77 million due to alleged misstated tax payments and other accounting issues which were blamed on their former management team's lax internal controls.
However, a report from Bloomberg on Wednesday revealed that Alibaba Pictures has already regained its losses and had even reached its highest value in five months after the actress and her husband bought the stakes.
