Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder and former president of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, reappeared from where it has been since the end of October 2020, when it ceased public appearances amid government crackdown on technology companies.
On CNN, Ma was featured in a video released by Tianmu News, a subsidiary of the official state media apparatus in Zhenjiang Province, where Alibaba is headquartered in Hangzhou. Ma appeared through a video link to address participants in an event organized by the Rural Teachers’ Initiative of its philanthropic foundation; Tianmu wrote that it was filmed on Wednesday, local time. He also appeared briefly in a second video visiting a school near Hangzhou, although The Wall Street Journal reported it was not clear when it was filmed.
In November 2020, Chinese regulators knocked the hammer on the Ant Alibaba Group, forcing it to halt an initial public offering that was expected to raise $ 37 billion and set a world record. divide sales. It immediately wiped out about $ 68 billion of Alibaba’s market value. The Shanghai Stock Exchange (which is run through a non-profit organization control by the Chinese government) told CNN In a statement at the time, the IPO was postponed due to “major problems”, which meant that Ant Group “does not meet the listing conditions or disclosure requirements” and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. characterized it as a matter of “self-regulation.” The company subsequently received a “Order for rectification” from the People’s Bank of China. Alibaba is now facing a antitrust investigation even if he tries calms regulators.
One month before the cancellation of the IPO, Ma criticized regulators for having a “pawn mentality” and called for lower lending restrictions, according to Associated Press, directly contrary to the Chinese government’s efforts to reduce debt. His subsequent disappearance from public view has been widely interpreted as the CEO tries to step down and give up some of the heat he had acquired, with numerous additional speculations that he could have been detained. Interpretations of the Chinese government’s apparent repression of Ma varied from politically motivated the defeat of a billionaire who provokes the Chinese Communist Party’s monopoly on power towards unforeseen development in a pushing for years by Chinese financial and competitive watchdogs to focus on the vast technology giants, as well as the concern about the financial risks posed by Ant’s massive IPO.
According to the diary, Ma did not break up as if he had recorded a hostage video, and the sources told the newspaper that he chose to give up his own will:
Mr Ma appeared relaxed and said he could not meet with teachers personally this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. He said his commitments to education will not change and added that he hopes to see them in the future.
Another video embedded in the same report in the Chinese media showed Mr. Ma about what he said was a recent visit to a primary school in Tonglu County, near Hangzhou, where Ant and his Alibaba subsidiary are located. He did not specify when Mr Ma, who was shown wearing a black hat and a lined winter jacket, visited the school.
…. Mr. Ma’s recent appearance could help dispel some unverified rumors about why he has been out of the public eye for months, said Jeffrey Towson, a former professor at the Guanghua School of Management. Peking University … “It was a necessary answer to the question” Where is Jack Ma? “, Said Prof. Towson.” Ma has such a high profile, his simple absence creates a lot of crazy ideas. “
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In addition, the newspaper reported that Alibaba and Alipay employees celebrated Ma’s reappearance on internal boards.
According to the newspaper, the People’s Bank of China has signaled that it will not give up Ma or its companies by launching draft rules that say non-bank payment companies with a large share of the payments market, either alone or together with a competitor, could be considered to have a dominant position on the market and could be separated or subject to additional regulatory control ‘. Alipay, a subsidiary of the Ant Group, processed about $ 17 trillion in digital payments, or just over half of the market, in the first half of 2020.