Explained: How Chinese regulators grounded Jack Ma's ambitions
FirstpostA reshuffling of Jack Ma’s shareholding structure will see the Chinese business tycoon cede control of the fintech giant he formed in 2014 Jack Ma, the unconventional billionaire founder of tech giant Alibaba and the totem of China’s entrepreneurial brilliance, has stepped out of the limelight since a Communist Party crackdown that chopped back his empire. Chinese regulators torched the planned listing of Ma’s Ant Group in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and the following year hit Alibaba with a record $2.75 billion fine for alleged unfair practices. A Communist Party member, Ma’s rags-to-riches backstory came to embody a self-confident generation of Chinese entrepreneurs ready to shake up the world. He had previously indicated he preferred to keep the state at arm’s length, telling the World Economic Forum in 2007: “My philosophy is to be in love with the government, but never marry them.” Days before Ant’s IPO was pulled, a swaggering Ma launched a stinging public broadside against Chinese regulators, accusing them of stifling growth.