Alibaba founder Jack Ma is traveling abroad for the first time in more than a year.
(Photo: Reuters)
Dusseldorf The founder of the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba, Jack Ma, has traveled to Europe. The entrepreneur’s first trip abroad in more than a year could be seen as a sign that the group has survived the toughest regulatory interventions by the Chinese state. At times, Alibaba shares rose more than nine percent in Hong Kong.
Since the IPO of the Alibaba financial services subsidiary Ant, which was forbidden for a short time by the financial authorities in November 2020, Ma had largely disappeared from the public eye. He had previously expressed public criticism of China’s regulatory authorities and their “pawnshop mentality”. According to media reports, President Xi Jinping is said to have vetoed the mega-IPO valued at 34.5 billion US dollars as a result.
After the blow against the financial subsidiary Ant, in which Alibaba still holds around a third, China’s competition watchdogs sentenced the parent company Alibaba to a record fine of 18.2 billion yuan, the equivalent of around 2.8 billion dollars, in May. The reason: Alibaba took advantage of its dominant position.
China’s regulators have tightened regulation of Internet conglomerates such as Alibaba, Didi, Meituan and Tencent in recent months. You accuse the company of, among other things, distortion of competition and data protection violations.
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Jack Ma retired from operational management at Alibaba in September 2019, at the age of 55. Nevertheless, he is considered an important ambassador for the company, especially abroad. According to the “South China Morning Post” from Hong Kong, Ma was traveling every third day in 2018. According to the company, however, he is no longer involved in day-to-day business. “He’s keeping a low profile right now,” said Joe Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba, in a television interview about Ma in mid-June. His business partner spends most of his time painting.
At times there was speculation about the disappearance of Jack Ma
Since November, Ma had only been spotted making a few, mostly unofficial appearances within China. At times there was speculation that the critical entrepreneur would disappear.
The 88 meter superyacht Zen from Jack Ma, founder of the online giant Alibaba, who until a few months ago was the richest man in China, is anchored in the bay of Santa Ponsa.
(Photo: imago images / Hans Blossey)
According to information from the South China Morning Post, owned by Alibaba, he was traveling to Europe for business appointments. Accordingly, Ma is currently in Spain on “a study trip to agriculture and technology in connection with environmental issues,” the newspaper quotes a Ma confidante. The Financial Times reports, however, that Ma is vacationing on his luxury yacht in Mallorca. Ma also owns a winery in France near Bordeaux.
The former English teacher, who failed the Chinese high school diploma several times, co-founded the e-commerce company in 1999. His net worth is estimated by Bloomberg at $ 42.4 billion. After he was initially considered a model entrepreneur, Ma has recently come under increasing criticism because Alibaba is allegedly exploiting its market power.
More: How China wants to break the market power of its tech companies