Photographer: Qilai Shen / Bloomberg
Photographer: Qilai Shen / Bloomberg
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has raised a proposed $ 4 billion to $ 10 billion share buyback program, providing more support for shares affected by an extended antitrust investigation into the country’s strongest internet corporations.
Its shares fell by more than 5% in Hong Kong’s early trading to a six-month low. China’s e-commerce leader said on Monday that it had started buying shares this quarter, and its board of directors had authorized an increase in that program, which was in effect for two years until the end of 2022.
Once hailed as a standard bearer of China’s economic and technological rise, Alibaba and rivals like it Tencent Holdings Ltd. is now facing increasing pressure from regulators concerned about the speed with which it is gathering hundreds of millions of users and gaining influence over almost every aspect of daily life. Alibaba shares down about 30% from peak in 2020, affected by deepening examination and accusations of monopolistic practices at the crown jewel of billionaire Jack Ma’s empire.
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Beijing began an antitrust investigation into Alibaba last week and sent officials to its Hangzhou headquarters, marking the formal start of the Communist Party’s crackdown on the company that made Ma the country’s best-known entrepreneur. On Sunday, Chinese regulators ordered Ma’s other titanium online – Ant Group Co. – return to its roots as a payment service provider, threatening to raise growth in its most profitable consumer lending and wealth management businesses.
Ma, the flamboyant co-founder of Alibaba and Ant, has almost disappeared from public view since Ant’s initial public offering was derailed last month. In early December, the man most closely identified with China Inc.’s meteoric rise. was advised by the government to stay in the country, said a person familiar with the matter.
Ma is not about to fall personally, said those familiar with the situation. His public rebuke is instead a warning that Beijing has lost patience with the oversized power of its technology moguls, increasingly perceived as a threat to political and financial stability, most notably President Xi Jinping’s award.
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