BABA vs MS Comparison

Alibaba is the world's largest online and mobile commerce company as measured by gross merchandise volume. It operates China's online marketplaces, including Taobao (consumer-to-consumer) and Tmall (business-to-consumer). The China commerce retail division is the most valuable cash flow-generating business at Alibaba. Additional revenue sources include China commerce wholesale, international commerce retail/wholesale, local consumer services, cloud computing, digital media and entertainment platforms, Cainiao logistics services, and innovation initiatives/other.

Morgan Stanley is a massive global financial services firm, with offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees as of year-end 2024. The firm cut its teeth in investment banking and institutional trading, where it maintains a strong presence today, but generates the lion share of its income from wealth and asset management franchises, where it boasted $7.9 trillion in client assets at the end of its most recent fiscal year. After reincorporation as a bank holding company in the wake of the great financial crisis, Morgan Stanley also boasts a top 10 banking franchise by deposits, with nearly $400 billion in customer deposits, predominately attributable to cash sweeps from its wealth management and brokerage businesses.