It is reported that the Ant Group, Ma Win’s fintech project, has entered the dismantling procedure. The picture is taken at a conference hosted by the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland in 2018. AFP=Yonhap News
For China’s richest man Ma Yun, the founder of Alibaba, 2020 is turning into a nightmare. The moment he went on stage for a keynote speech at the Shanghai Bund Financial Summit on October 24th, his downhill began. The mouth was a problem.
Xi Jinping’s bitterness in the government’s administration
Share price evaporation of 280 trillion won, threat of killing SNS line
From “Should we manage the airport as if we were managing a train station?” to “The problem of regulation of pawn shops” was the point of Ma’s intention. At that time, Vice Chairman Wang Qishan, the right arm of State President Xi Jinping, and Lee Kang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, were sitting in the auditorium. Ma Yun, who publicly criticized the authorities in the face of these people, tasted a bitter aftermath.
Alibaba’s fintech company Ant Group planned to be listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchanges last month through the world’s largest public offering (IPO). It is expected to raise funds worth 34.5 billion dollars (about 3,915 trillion won). However, on the 3rd of last month, just two days before listing, the Chinese authorities postponed the IPO indefinitely, saying “there are major issues.” Summarizing reports from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Financial Times (FT), Ma Yun fell flat, saying, “It is okay to nationalize part of the group,” but the Chinese authorities seem to have not occupied the province. According to a Bloomberg News report on the 28th (local time), the Ant Group is in de facto dissolution. Bloomberg said, “The Ant Group, which was a great opportunity for investors, is turning into a nightmare.”
Ma Yun’s good days. This is the stage on the eve of SOP’s shopping held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China in 2017. Nicole Kidman on the right. Reuters = Yonhap News
Even the kingdom of Alibaba, the foundation of Ma Yun’s business, is shaking. Alibaba, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), had a market capitalization of $85 billion (about 938 trillion won) before his speech in Shanghai. As of the 29th, it was about 61.6 billion dollars, and 2574 billion dollars (about 281 trillion won) has evaporated. Alibaba’s stock price listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange also ended at 211 Hong Kong dollars (about 36,000 won) per share, with a sharp decline of more than 7% compared to the previous trading day on the 28th. Chairman Ma’s own assets also reached $62 billion at one time, but according to the Forbes Billionaire Index, it was $57.4 billion as of the 29th, down by $4.6 billion.
It is a common report by WSJ and FT that the person who instructed Ma to show’spicy taste’ is President Xi. After receiving a report of the October 24 speech, President Xi was angry and ordered the IPO to be stopped. There are observations that Ma Yun, who has been regarded as a’talking person’ among Chinese entrepreneurs, is facing the biggest crisis in life.
President Xi Jinping. The Wall Street Journal reported that they directly ordered action against Ma. Shinhwa = Yonhap News
It’s been a long time since Ma Yun’s ugly hair was embedded in Chinese financial authorities. The logic that the Chinese authorities brought up while kneeling on Ma Yun’s knees were’the need for antitrust regulation’ and’improving corporate governance.’ The problem was that Mawin’s Ant Group uses its monopoly position to reduce the competitiveness of other companies, and that the Ant Group is actually dominated by Ma Win’s individuals. However, it is a common evaluation of English-speaking foreign media that this is a superficial reason. Ma Yun was also notable, but the fact that the online commerce platform and fintech he built could be out of control of the Chinese financial authorities was also a big part, the New York Times (NYT) reported on the 24th.
Ma Yun is currently silent. His future, which was once popular in China as a self-made entrepreneur, nicknamed’Daddy Ma’, is uncertain. NYT said, “Mawin’s name was synonymous with success, but it is not anymore,” and said, “In China, there are spreading words about’kill the guys’ that were popular during the French Revolution over Mawin.” More than 122,000 users liked this article, an anonymous post on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter.
Reporter Jeon Sujin [email protected]