Jack Ma's name will mean little to many, but in fact, he is behind one of the most successful internet businesses in the world. Alibaba was founded in 1999 as a B2B marketplace by 17 friends who quickly received multi-million dollar funding from American and Japanese investors. With the help of the service, it was planned to raise the internal Internet trade in China, help with exporting and demonstrate to the whole world a willingness to follow conventionally "capitalist values" (in fact, a market economy).
This was followed by the rapid growth of everything in China, and the brainchild of Jack Ma was no exception. The company has grown in directions, the name of its founder has become synonymous with success, and the businessman himself has become one of the richest people in the country, wrote The New York Times. For some time he was called "Daddy Ma", he was looked up to and set as an example. Gradually, however, for the audience (or part of it) he turned into an "evil capitalist", "villain", and from a "daddy" he became a "son" or even a "granddaughter". In China, where the older generation is highly revered, this is a significant demotion.
By now, the Alibaba Group includes many smaller enterprises, of which the most popular among the people are probably AliExpress and Taobao. However, it was not they who drew attention to Jack Ma's empire, but the financial monster Ant Group, which grew out of Alipay, is the largest payment platform. Disputes and conflicts around her have been going on for a long time - at least since 2011, but things usually did not go beyond criticism. And everyone used Alipay.
Almost the entire decade passed relatively cloudless, but in 2020 Alibaba faced an "existential crisis" with very serious consequences - whether for a group of companies or for Jack Ma. Given that they are inseparable, it is likely that everyone will have problems.
It is worth noting that Jack Ma stepped down as CEO of Alibaba back in 2013, taking over as chairman of the board of directors. He stayed in this status until 2019, quitting on Teacher's Day - this is a tribute to his past (before becoming a billionaire, he taught English). After Ma left, he remained a member of the Alibaba Partnership - this is the "community" of all the important heads of the group of companies.
By the fall of 2020, the Chinese government had blocked Ant Group's IPO, displeasing Jack Ma. It is understandable: the placement was planned to gain $ 35 billion, and the market value of the financial institution would have amounted to $ 300 billion. Ma, and so the richest Chinese would become even richer, writes Bloomberg.
The businessman put his dissatisfaction in words about China's anachronistic financial system, its bureaucratic nature, and a general lack of understanding of how everything works in the modern world: he spoke about this and much more that is not too pleasant for government officials in his 20-minute passionate speech at the Bund Summit.
What's the answer? After a short time, Jack Ma disappeared.
Sources familiar with the situation explain his disappearance a little differently, but the thought is the same: some say that the businessman himself decided “to become lower than grass, quieter than water,” others - that, they say, he was asked to calm down at the highest level (and at the same time - do not leave the country).
Then there were rumors: Jack Ma was removed by a special unit created seven years ago just for such cases. This is hardly true. As for the harsh reaction on the part of the authorities, it is not difficult to guess what they were guided by in bringing down the compatriot.
Competition is to blame, some argue. And not only with Ma: China is allegedly tired of the almost unlimited power of tech giants, which they began to perceive as a threat to the country's political and economic well-being. Well, the law on curbing monopolies (not state ones, of course), strengthened by a couple of decisions of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, is just one of the official tools to curb the irrepressible growth and appetites of IT specialists.
Yes, once Chinese startups became the drivers of the economy and raised the country's prestige in the eyes of the world community. But gradually their sphere of influence expanded to cover the whole of China, and today not a single part of it can do without "modern technologies" - which means, under their control. And this, in turn, means a huge influence, which should be concentrated in the hands of Zhongguo Gongchandang's party and its general secretary.
Apparently, Jack Ma has lost the sense of balance and boundaries that have helped him over the past years. He is compared to Icarus flying too high, and now his brainchild is engaged in "self-digging": "We are conducting a comprehensive assessment [of ourselves]" (officials in Alibaba say). Now the question is how events will develop further. While the future is vague. In any case, any pressure on Ant will also affect Alibaba, whose sites are tied to its own payment system.
It just won't. If only because a subsidiary of Ant International held a "secret IPO" in 2018, raising $ 10.3 billion from investors. What will happen to their money now, especially in light of a possible asset restructuring? In theory, they could become the owners of Ant Group shares, but in reality, they may be left with meaningless pieces of paper - and feel "screwed up", writes The Financial Times. Probably the largest IPO in history will not come true. Or at least the future will not be what Jack Ma saw it.
In addition, while Alibaba's core business is located in China, the pressure on the company will have global implications for a number of reasons - including the fact that the Chinese tech empire is listed on the NYSE and its largest shareholder is Japan's SoftBank. Other serious investors are also involved in the business.
While the nationalization of Alibaba looks unlikely, but for sure, China will significantly strengthen its control over tech giants in principle, cool their ardor in the desire to become "more than you can." As for Jack Ma, it is unlikely that anyone is hurting him at the moment - most likely, he, as he was recommended, "lay low" pending a decision from above.
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