Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Loses Title as China’s Richest Man After Coming Under Beijing’s Scrutiny

Reuters via Epoch Times ^ | 03/02/2021

[SeekAndFind]

Alibaba and Ant Group founder Jack Ma has lost the title of China’s richest man, a list published on Tuesday showed, as his peers prospered while his empire was put under heavy scrutiny by Chinese regulators.

Ma and his family had held the top spot for China’s richest in the Hurun Global Rich List in 2020 and 2019 but now trail in fourth place behind bottled water maker Nongfu Spring’s Zhong Shanshan, Tencent Holding’s Pony Ma and e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo’s Collin Huang, the latest list showed.

His fall out of the top three comes “after China’s regulators reined in Ant Group and Alibaba on antitrust issues,” the Hurun report said.

Ma’s recent woes were triggered by an Oct. 24 speech in which he blasted China’s regulatory system, leading to the suspension of his Ant Group’s $37 billion IPO just days before the fintech giant’s public listing.

Regulators have since tightened antitrust scrutiny on the country’s tech sector, with Alibaba taking much of the heat; the market regulator launched an official antitrust probe into Alibaba in December.

Chinese regulators also began to tighten their grip on the fintech sector and have asked Ant to fold some of its businesses into a financial holding company to be regulated like traditional financial firms.

Ma, who is not known for shying away from the limelight, then disappeared from the public eye for about three months, triggering frenzied speculation about his whereabouts. He reemerged in January with a 50-second video appearance.

China’s current richest man, Zhong, made his first appearance at the top spot largely thanks to the share price performances of Nongfu Spring and vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, which he also controls.

[SeekAndFind]

Tencent’s Po Ny Ma saw his wealth swell 70 percent over the year to 480 billion yuan ($74.16 billion) while Pinduoduo’s Huang’s fortune grew 283 percent to 450 billion yuan, the list said. In comparison, the wealth of Ma and his family grew 22 percent, to 360 billion yuan.

Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, broke into the top five rankings among Chinese billionaires in Hurun’s Global Rich List for the first time, with an estimated personal wealth of $54 billion.

[frank ballenger]

Now he’s the chrome wheel polish guy at Toff Luk Boi Car Wash. And can’t even accept tips.

How the mighty have fallen when they speak out in China.

[Mr. K]

Has anyone here ever bought anything from Alibaba?

I’ve seen some incredible deals on stuff.

[frank ballenger]

Bob Dylan sang It’s Alright, Ma, I’m Only Bleeding (1965).

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
As some warn victory, some downfall

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked

An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge
And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it

[SeekAndFind]

For those who are wondering where the missing Jack Ma is, they've found him :)

[BobL]

Jack would be smart to get out of there, quickly!

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Jack would be smart to get out of there, quickly!

I think it’s too late for him at this point in time. we don’t even know his whereabouts.

[The Duke]

I've bought a couple of items off Alibaba. They took a while to arrive, and I had to buy in quantity, but the prices were low. The merchants I've worked with in China have seemed quite "human". Most recently I've had ot wait for one of the reps to return from her 12-day Chinese New Year vacation, so they aren't quite slaves there, although I'm sure the government skims all the gravy off the top for itself.

The interesting thing about Alibaba, though, is that they have their own version of Amazon's AWS for hosting IT stuff, and as far as features goes it seems to compare favorably. I'm far too concerned about data security to use them, though.

I should also add that some name brand items I purchased from China (through another source) ended up being counterfeit. When I asked the brand owner (Browning) about the items they said .. "Of course they're counterfeit, you're getting them from China." Then, when I confronted the Chinese sales rep, he basically replied ... "Of course they're counterfeit, you're buying from China!"

[BobL]

Probably so - classic case of getting too well-known (and hence too powerful).

In the US, the Republican Party sics Karl Rove on you with his marker board on Meet the Press when that happens. But Trump even managed to defeat that tactic.