A year after Beijing reined in his empire, the billionaire Alibaba e-commerce tycoon is taking a low-key trip to Europe
This was supposed to be Jack Ma’s finest hour: a year ago to the day, his Ant Group was meant to go public in a $37bn blaze of glory. Instead Beijing reined in his empire, abruptly clipping the wings of corporate China’s biggest star.
Alibaba’s government relations team was subsequently told by Chinese officials that Beijing was unhappy about Ma meeting Trump without its prior approval, two of the people close to the company said. Investors are hungry for clues about Ma’s situation: the mere sighting of the businessman on the Spanish island of Mallorca last month, his first trip abroad in over a year, immediately saw Alibaba gain as much as $42bn in value.
“Jack was rubbing shoulders regularly with foreign presidents, prime ministers, royalty, celebrities at places like Davos or on his own visits overseas. There was a constant stream of VIP visitors to see him in Hangzhou too.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Facebook to stop use of facial recognition technologyMove seen as step towards convincing critics the company is taking privacy concerns seriously
Read more »
What must happen for SA to reach T20 World Cup semifinalWith one match remaining in the group stages of the ICC T20 World Cup, the prospect of SA qualifying for the semifinal stage is not entirely in their own hands.
Read more »
What must happen for SA to reach T20 World Cup semifinalWith one match remaining in the group stages of the ICC T20 World Cup, the prospect of SA qualifying for the semifinal stage is not entirely in their own hands.
Read more »
Stage 4 load-shedding returns as diesel runs out - The Mail & GuardianStage 4 load-shedding returns as diesel runs out: Eskom said it would scale back to stage 2 outages from early Saturday for the rest of the weekend but was no longer able to compensate by burning open-cycle gas turbines
Read more »
REGISTER | Taking small steps and giant leaps to a more sustainable futureRegister now to join Sanlam Investments for its final Critical Conversations thought leadership event of 2021 on November 15
Read more »
Nintendo hikes annual profit forecast despite gaming boom slowdownNintendo upgraded its full-year net profit forecast on Thursday despite a weaker performance in the first half as the coronavirus lockdown-fuelled global gaming boom slowed.
Read more »