BEIJING (CHINA) – Alibaba founder Jack Ma has to face a major setback as the Chinese e-commerce giant hit with a record 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion) antitrust fine. The penalty is only expected to resolve one key uncertainty but others persist for himself and his business empire.
Ma’s Shanghai speech triggered a backlash that led to the scuppering of a blockbuster $37 billion IPO for Alibaba financial technology affiliate Ant Group, as well as a clampdown by authorities on the e-commerce giant itself and the wider “platform economy”, which continues to reverberate.
Ant, whose rapid growth and freewheeling lending practices drew regulatory concern about financial risk, remains subject to an enforced restructuring that is expected to rein in some of its most profitable businesses and slash its valuation.
“Entrepreneurship has to be disruptive. But being provocative to the government has its limits,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of Beijing-based tech consultancy BDA China and author of a book on Alibaba and Ma.
Saturday’s settlement, he said, “should draw a line” under the matter for Alibaba. “But for Ant and Jack, there’s no line drawn yet,” he added.
Ma’s absence from public view became conspicuous until he surfaced for the first time in three months in late January, speaking to a group of teachers by video, which sent Alibaba shares surging. He has continued to keep an extremely low profile.
