It Is 'Highly Unlikely' Snapchat Will Raise A Boatload Of Money From *Alibaba*

Snapchat may be raising a boatload of money, but the investment probably won't come from Alibaba, four sources with knowledge of the situation separately told Business Insider.

Alibaba was named by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg as a potential investor in a new round of financing that could value Snapchat at $10 billion.

One source flat-out denied the Alibaba rumor to Business Insider calling it "false," but didn't comment on whether Snapchat was in the middle of funding talks or not with other investors. Another called a funding deal between Alibaba and Snapchat "highly unlikely" to happen.

Multiple sources said Snapchat and Alibaba have had conversations but not necessarily about current investment opportunities.

More than one person also noted that Alibaba is about to go public, and making a Snapchat investment at a massive valuation probably could be an unwanted distraction.

The last time Snapchat raised a funding round, it was led by Chinese company Tencent and the valuation was $2 billion lower than initial press reports speculated. In the end, Snapchat opted for a more modest valuation so it could hire the rest of its executive team and keep employees incentivized from a stock-option perspective.

A Snapchat spokesperson says the company "doesn't comment on financing rumors."