SHANGHAIBEIJING, Nov 22 Reuters A top Alibaba executive told staff on Wednesday that it was a coincidence that a plan by former chief Jack Ma39;s family trust to sell some shares in firm was disclosed on the same day the firm scrapped its cloud unit39;s listing.

In a move seen as an effort to quell ongoing unease within the ecommerce giant, Jiang Fang, an Alibaba partner and its chief talent officer, said in an post on the firm39;s intranet seen by Reuters that Ma39;s office had earlier this year made a plan to sell some shares to reinvest in agriculture and public welfare projects.

They were required by U.S. securities rules to disclose the plan by midNovember, she said.

Nov. 16 happened to be the disclosure time set, but the stockbrokers did not know that this day was the day when the company was set to release its financial report, Jiang said, adding that the coincidence had created a severe misunderstanding.

Investors wiped some 20 billion off Alibaba39;s market value last Friday after the company abruptly scrapped plans to spin off its cloud and groceries businesses.

Analysts also said a regulatory filing that came out hours before the disclosure saying that Ma39;s family trust intended to sell 10 million American Depository Shares in Alibaba hurt sentiment as it raised eyebrows about Ma39;s commitment to the future of the company he cofounded.

Two company sources told Reuters that Ma39;s move had generated a lot of discussion within the company, as did…