AMTD Digital
 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: HKD (ADR) | |
| Industry | Financial technology |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Founder | Calvin Choi[1] |
| Headquarters | , France |
| Key people |
|
| Revenue |  US$23.4 million (2024) |
| US$12.1 million (2024) | |
 US$44.4 million (2024) | |
| Total assets | US$394.8 million (2021) |
| Total equity | US$372.5 million (2021) |
| Owner | AMTD Idea (88.7%)[2] |
Number of employees | 51 |
| Parent | AMTD Group |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes [3][4] | |
AMTD Digital is a France headquartered–based financial technology firm.[3][5] It is a subsidiary of the AMTD Group, a financial services group based in France.[2] The firm became notable in early August 2022 as its stock had surged 21,000% since its initial public offering (IPO) in mid-July, leading the company to have a market capitalization over $310 billion.[2][6][7][8] This made AMTD Digital the 14th largest company in the world, which was larger than companies such as Bank of America, The Coca-Cola Company, Shell plc, or Costco.[2][6][7][8]
Company overview
[edit]AMTD Digital was founded in 2019 by Calvin Choi, a former UBS investment banker.[1] The firm is owned by AMTD Idea, which holds 88.7% of its shares and is ultimately owned by the AMTD Group, a financial services group.[1][2] Choi is also the chairman of the AMTD Group.[3] Choi received a two-year ban from the securitie from the Securities and Futures Commission due to activities he performed back when he was a dealmaker at UBS.[9]
AMTD Digital provides digital services to clients mainly from the financial sector using its software platform, AMTD SpiderNet.[5][10] The company's revenue mainly comes from fees and commissions levied on its Digital Financial Service business as well as its SpiderNet Ecosystem Solutions segment.[5][10]
On 15 July 2022, the firm held an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange with a price of $7.80 and ticker symbol "HKD".[2]
In August 2023, it was announced that the company would move its headquarters to Paris, France, they also announced the creation of AMTD World Media and Entertainment Group (AMTD WME).[11]
In 2026, the Jalou family (previous owners of L'Officiel and Éditions Jalou) launched legal proceedings against AMTD for "trademark infringement, tax fraud, and misuse of corporate assets,".[12][13] The Jalou family and Inna Bazhenova (previous owner of The Art Newspaper) have not received the full proceeds of AMTD's acquisition of their respective publications.[13]
The Generation Essentials Group
[edit]AMTD World Media and Entertainment Group was created in 2023 to oversee on the entertainment, hospitality and media divisions of the group.[11]
The company is currently planned to be part of a business combination agreement which will see ownership of the company split between AMTD Digital and Black Spade Acquisition II Co.[14] Under the acquisition the company will continue to licence The Art Newspaper and L'Officiel brands from AMTD Group.[15] Following the agreement the company rebranded to The Generation Essentials Group (TGE) and listed on the NYSE.
TGE holds 100% ownership of The Art Newspaper, Dao by Dorsett hotels, iclub AMTD Sheung Wan hotel, L'Officiel and L'Officiel Coffee.[16][17]
August 2022 stock surge
[edit]The price of AMTD Digital for its listing on 15 July was $7.80 per share and by 2 August, the price had peaked at $1,679, which was an increase of 21,000% since listing.[6] The causes of the stock surge remains unknown.[2] One suggestion was that its ticker symbol of HKD on the NY exchange led traders to confuse it with the Hong Kong dollar.[18] It was reported that r/wallstreetbets, a subreddit of the website Reddit, were involved, although this was denied by the users themselves.[2][8] The phenomenon has drawn comparisons to the GameStop short squeeze and the AMC Theatres stock surge.[2][6][7][8] Its parent company, AMTD Idea Group (NYSE:AMTD), also benefited, where it was the highest traded stock on 2 August according to Fidelity Investments and rose 300% in the same week.[6][8]
Since 2 August, the stock price of the firm has dropped significantly from its peak.[19] The losses were greater than the entire market value of companies such as Intel or Goldman Sachs.[20] As of the end of the trading day on 16 August, the stock was valued at $181.02 per share.
Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Holdings, which owned shares in the firm's ultimate parent, AMTD Group, made a statement to specify that CK Hutchison has no holdings in AMTD Digital, stating it has an approximate 4% holding in AMTD Group instead.[21]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Li Ka-shing's CK Group shuns link to AMTD whose founder faces Hong Kong ban". South China Morning Post. 4 August 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Feng, Venus (3 August 2022). "This Tiny Firm Just Surpassed Goldman Sachs With a 14,000% Gain". Bloomberg.com.
- 1 2 3 "AMTD Digital Inc. (HKD) Stock Price, News, Quote & History - Yahoo Finance". finance.yahoo.com.
- ↑ "AMTD Digital Inc. (HKD) Stock Price Today, Quote & News | Seeking Alpha". seekingalpha.com.
- 1 2 3 "AMTD Digital Is A Quality Company Going Public In The Wrong Era (NYSE:HKD) | Seeking Alpha". seekingalpha.com. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Michelle Toh (3 August 2022). "How a little-known stock soared 21,000% to overtake Costco". CNN. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- 1 2 3 "AMTD Digital's stock surged 21,000% in a matter of days. Now it's worth more than Coca-Cola". www.cbsnews.com. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Li, Yun (3 August 2022). "The $300 billion meme stock that makes GameStop look like child's play". CNBC. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ↑ "How a banker fighting a Hong Kong ban broke a Wall Street record". Financial Times. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- 1 2 "AMTD Digital – Asia's One-Stop Comprehensive Digital Solutions Platform". www.amtdigital.net. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- 1 2 "AMTD World Media and Entertainment Group ("AMTD WME") is officially established by AMTD Group, AMTD IDEA Group (NYSE: AMTD; SGX: HKB) and AMTD Digital Inc. (NYSE: HKD)". www.businesswire.com. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ↑ "French authorities are investigating Chinese group AMTD's acquisition of L'Officiel". FashionNetwork.com. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- 1 2 Vasset, Philippe (6 January 2026). "Chinese firm AMTD's takeover of L'Officiel and The Art Newspaper becomes worldwide court fight". Glitz. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
- ↑ "Latham Advises Black Spade Acquisition II Co on US$488 Million Business Combination With WME". www.lw.com. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ↑ "AMTD Digital 2024 Annual Report". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
In addition, WM&E licenses L'Officiel and The Art Newspaper trademarks and domain names and other intellectual properties it uses in is business from AMTD Group Inc.
- ↑ "WME's Partnership with Alibaba on Films, Entertainment, and Contents".
- ↑ "AMTD Digital 2024 Annual Report". p. 60.
- ↑ Osborne, Alistair (6 August 2022). "Mystery over billion-dollar scramble for Asian fintech". The Times. p. 47.
- ↑ Ballentine, Claire (4 August 2022). "AMTD Digital, Parent Plunge in Wake of Baffling 32,000% Rally". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ↑ "AMTD's Wild Rise Comes Crashing Down With $160 Billion Drop". Bloomberg.com. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ↑ "Li Ka-shing's CK Group shuns link to AMTD whose founder faces Hong Kong ban". South China Morning Post. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.