Jack Ma’s Ant Group IPO attracts demand equal to Britain’s economy

The biggest initial public offering (IPO) of all time has unleashed an investor frenzy for the record books.

Jack Ma’s Ant Group attracted at least $3 trillion, or about equal to the UK’s gross domestic product last year, of orders from individual investors for its dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, enough money to buy JPMorgan Chase & Co 10 times over. Bidding was so intense in Hong Kong that one brokerage’s platform briefly shut down after becoming overwhelmed by orders. Demand for the retail portion in Shanghai exceeded initial supply by more than 870 times.

Analysts say buyers struggling to secure allocations as fundraising expands to almost $37 billion.