[ValarMorghulis]

Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba Group, is reportedly "missing" in China after criticizing the Chinese government.

Chinese tech billionaire and the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, is reportedly missing from the public eye ever since his tiff with Chinese President Xi Jinping-led Central Communist Party government.

Ma had said in a speech, “Today’s financial system is the legacy of the Industrial Age. We must set up a new one for the next generation and young people. We must reform the current system.” Post that the Ant Group IPO was suspended after it had got a green light from China’s securities watchdog which was scheduled to be listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange.

This is not the first time a high profile individual has gone "missing" after criticizing the Chinese government. In 2018, popular A-list actress Fan Bingbing (X-Men and Iron Man film franchises) "disappeared". She was not seen in public for months over the summer and went silent on social media, before turning up in early October with a groveling apology for evading taxes. Link

In Dec 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui shocked the world by announcing he edited the genes of twin sisters, Nana and Lulu but later he disappeared as well, after Beijing responded strongly to the gene-editing incident. Link

Several billionaires or protestors/ activists who have raised their voice against the Chinese government or President XI have over the years disappeared including Former Head of Interpol, Award winning Photographer, a Billionaire who called XI "a clown", a church leader, among others.

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The perils of dictatorship? Growth versus liberty?

[srini1785]

He crossed the lakshman rekha, sorry Xi rekha. No matter who you are, if you go against the CCP, prepare for the worst. Now his empire would be taken away, he would be given an option of long jail term (on espionage charges or something ) or an apology with a song in praise of President Xi. I am pretty sure he would choose the latter (as I would).

The thing i don't understand is why he antagonized the CCP in the first place. He owes his entire fortune to the policies of CCP. Frankly, how would he have fared if not for china barring Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, PayPal and the rest. So the Chinese essentially knew only Alibaba and Alipay. So it a case of man kicking the ladder away and the ladder pulling him down.

[Cessna182]

What a fall from grace. He was the only Chinese I respected. He was a self made man. His biography by Duncan Clark is a must read. Also, he was helped by many international banks. Goldman Sachs was one of his first backers.

It is true that he rose because of the communists, but it is also true that China's export boom happened because of Alibaba. His company integrated the small component makers and put them on the world map. The CCP owes a lot of its export capabilities to Alibaba. It was the biggest IPO of its time. It made China the global manufacturing hub because millions of small industries globally discovered Chinese makers through that website.

Communists are all the same everywhere. Stalin, Mao, Lenin, Jinping, Maduro, Castro- everyone just behaves the same way. I find it ironic that the west which spent decades fighting the evil of communism through the cold war actually supported and bankrolled the CCP to become the global threat they are today.

[turbo]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

What a fall from grace. He was the only Chinese I respected. He was a self made man. His biography by Duncan Clark is a must read. Also, he was helped by many international banks. Goldman Sachs was one of his first backers.

I'm sorry, but how is it a "fall from grace"?

It would have been a fall from grace, had he suddenly become pro-Chinese government, and a sellout. Instead he chose to call them out, and faced the music.
If you think the CCP govt is behind his disappearance, you ought to call him a martyr.

[Durango Dude]

Reminds me of Loki's lines in the Avengers: "An Ant (IPO) has no quarrel with a boot". All those billions got to his head and when he had a few drinks too many truth came pouring out to his detriment, I guess! Ma should remember he is not bigger than Pa (Xi)! It's well known that Xi scuttled his impending Ant Co's IPO which was expected eagerly by the whole world.

[ashokrajagopal]

There are many speculations going on about this, but it is surprising that the whole picture is not at least tried to be painted.

1. Jack Ma is not in anyway a superstar "despite" being from China, he is a superstar "because" he was from China, and in good books of CCP.
There is no Alibaba group or Ant without the Chinese govt's active involvement.

Think about it this way. Indian mobile payment infra is sitting on NPCI(UPI BHIM etc), backed by Govt and RBI to provide the clearing and regulatory infra. If there was only one player in payment business, how would that be without blessings from Govt and NPCI ?

2. From 2015 onwards, China is facing a massive capital outflow ( $1 trillion in 2015 alone). This is a direct result of Authoritarianism, where the rich simply do not want to continue in China. This has had two minor phenomenons
-- massive increase in Chinese tourism imports (ie. Chinese tourists visiting all over the world), which I think is a capital escape mechanism
-- massive investments from Chinese billionaires in real estate world wide, in EU, Aus, North America etc.

No points in guessing CCP is furious about this.
Innovative capital outflow mechanisms are being invented by Chinese billionaires and the government is not happy.

3. Ants group has a tight control on payments and fintech.
One may call it many things, but in my personal opinion, that is the closest thing to an actual dystopia.
Something that can track almost all your citizen's payment data and financial doings is not a simple thing.
Chinese government let it get built for its own use, its pretty obvious.

But then the Ant IPO would have brought out a chance of foreign capital infusion and later transfer of control thru the foreign investors.
Now, that's something they cant allow.
Enter, Anti trust case.
They will bring it back in 3-4 years with regulations on capital control and ownership.
Whether Jack Ma will be at the helm is anybody's guess.


4. This, and the sentenced RE investor's case should be viewed in the context of a larger picture.
Chinese govt is very clear as to who made these billionaires. Eg. without the Chinese govt's ghost city plans etc, there is no RE industry in China.
The billionaires want to escape since they do not want to be subservient anymore.
It is a power tussle.

5. It is very naive to pin this on Xi Jinping, as is done by almost all the mainstream media.
It is not about Xi, even if Xi dies tomorrow, they are going to follow the same thing.
This is where authoritarian state sponsored capitalism will finally end up at.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by ashokrajagopal

5. It is very naive to pin this on Xi Jinping, as is done by almost all the mainstream media.
It is not about Xi, even if Xi dies tomorrow, they are going to follow the same thing. This is where authoritarian state sponsored capitalism will finally end up at.

Not to sound nitpicky but Xi is different from most of his immediate predecessors, Hu Jintao , Jiang Zemin who had endorsed a 10 year terms for precedency. Xi has made himself president for life. As with any news related to China, it will never be clear if Xi himself was personally involved.

[v1p3r]

This is why I am grateful to live in a vibrant democracy where I can question regulators, administrators, and elected representatives at all times, without any fear of repercussion or punitive action.

[AZT]

Alibaba founder Jack Ma not ‘missing,’ just ‘laying low’ after drawing ire of Chinese leadership: Report

Chinese e-commerce billionaire and Alibaba founder Jack Ma is not missing but is “laying low”. CNBC’s David Faber reported that Ma is not missing, adding “what I can tell you is that he’s very likely in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is headquartered, and is being less-visible, purposefully...but that doesn’t mean that he’s missing.” Faber further revealed that Ma “hasn't been captured, he hasn't been taken and there's no expectation that the government is going to move on him in some way.” It is worth mentioning here that Alibaba’s US-listed stocks jumped 5.5 per cent over the Tuesday session to close at $240.40 apiece following Faber's remarks, which he attributed to a source close to the Chinese entrepreneur.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/busines...-report/703418

[ValarMorghulis]

China muzzles reporting on Alibaba



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[RM Motorsports]

On a lighter note : There is this video circulating on social media that Jack Ma is finally found.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6j5rDjiP-I

[ValarMorghulis]

A really really interesting development:

China CCP to Nationalize Jack Ma's Alibaba and Ant Group - Report

Reports from China indicate that the Chinese government may be working on a plan to nationalize Jack Ma's Alibaba and the Ant Group. China's ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has gone further ahead with the antitrust investigation into e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The investigating agencies had set up an office at the Alibaba headquarters in November. Apart from the e-commerce giant, investigators are also probing social media giant Tencent and e-commerce company Meituan.

The news of the government's plan to enforce more curbs on Alibaba sent its stock spiraling down as much as 8 percent. Alibaba said in a statement it would cooperate with any investigation. "Today, Ant Group received a meeting notice from regulators," Alibaba said in a statement.

Link

[Venkatesh]

Jack Ma makes first appearance since October.



Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has made his first appearance since Chinese regulators cracked down on his business empire.

Jack Ma met 100 rural teachers in China via a video meeting on Wednesday, according to local government media.

Tianmu News, which is backed by the provincial Zhejiang government, first reported that Mr Ma addressed the teachers as part of one of his charity foundation's initiatives

Source