By 2020, Jack Ma, China’s Business guru, was Asia’s richest man, worth more than $61.7 billion, and his companies, Alibaba and Ant Group collectively were worth more than $1.5 trillion. He went about with some air of importance. He was the face of China’s new economic power and was invited to speak all over the world on economic and business issues. Then, in October 2020, he made what he thought was a non-political and harmless criticism of China’s financial regulatory system, saying it was stifling innovation and needed reforms to fuel growth. He claimed the banks operated with a ‘pawnshop’ mentality.
Of course, the ‘harmless’ remarks stung Chinese regulators and Communist party officials who immediately began reigning in Ma’s vast business and financial empire. First, regulators cancelled Ant Group’s IPO, then so-called charges of infractions were brought against both Alibaba and Ant Group; and then Ma was forced out of public view into seclusion, some say, in Japan and/or Thailand. By the time they were done, Alibaba and Ant Group had seen a collective wipeout of over $850 in valuation and Ma’s net worth had crashed from $61 billion to $34 billion. He’s now been taught how to keep his mouth shut.
Christopher Akor