It seems that the times in the purgatory of the Chinese tech guru are behind. Jack Ma, the father of the giant Alibaba, who was out of the spotlight during Beijing's regulatory crusade against its tech titans, has returned. This Monday, President Xi Jinping gathered the big business players of the Asian giant in the Chinese capital to provide them with guarantees, amidst internal economic turbulence, that his government would protect the vital private sector. Among those present was Jack Ma (60 years old), the former English teacher who founded one of the world's largest e-commerce companies.
In 2020, Xi's administration halted the IPO of Ant Group, Alibaba's fintech arm, which aimed to list 1.67 billion shares, 11% of its shares, on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. It was set to be the largest IPO in history. This happened after Ma criticized Chinese regulators at a forum in Shanghai, publicly stating that China's biggest problem was the lack of an efficient financial system. "The system is still dominated by large state banks and needs other technology-driven channels to efficiently provide funds in a vast economic system," he said.
Days after these statements, Beijing suspended Ant Group's IPO, and Ma, along with two other executives, were questioned because the operation did not meet requirements. Additionally, his company received a record $2.8 billion fine for violating antitrust regulations, causing it to lose approximately 75% of its market value.
Ma, once considered one of the most powerful men in the world's second-largest economy, had become vulnerable. He then disappeared from the public eye, leading to various theories circulating in the foreign press about the "disappearance" of China's most famous billionaire.
In recent years, Ma has maintained a much lower profile than before. He has spent time in Japan, where he is a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo. He has also been spotted vacationing in Spain, in Ibiza and Mallorca. At the end of last year, Ma returned to Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou to give a lecture to employees.
As Beijing eased its regulatory crackdown on tech giants venturing into sectors where the state sought strict control - prompting President Xi to express concerns about "disorderly capital expansion" - Chinese media once again covered Ma's motivational talks at universities or his video conferences with rural China teachers, where the entrepreneur has launched ambitious educational and agricultural projects.
Ma's official reappearance was at a meeting not seen since 2018: Xi Jinping presiding over a high-level meeting with China's most important business figures. Alongside Alibaba's founder, Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi; Wang Chuanfu of the electric car manufacturer BYD; Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei; Zeng Yuqun, president of the battery giant CATL were also present.
These are some prominent names on a list that also includes entrepreneurs from the semiconductor industry, crucial for Beijing's technological self-sufficiency goals, or billionaires leading food companies. Some Chinese media have also mentioned that Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek, the AI company that revolutionized the industry in January with its advanced open-source model, was also present at the meeting.