JACK MA SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO CRITICIZE CHINA'S FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Alibaba Has Lost $344 Billion in World's Biggest Wipeout

 

By Jeanny Yu 

 

Bloomberg

October 25, 2021

 

 

Jack Ma, co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group

 

Few people could have predicted the downward spiral for Alibaba Group Holding, when founder Jack Ma delivered a blunt criticism of China’s financial system last October.

Yet one year on, the technology titan has lost a whopping $344 billion in market capitalisation — the biggest wipe-out of shareholder value globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Shortly after the now infamous speech, Beijing suspended the listing of its fintech arm Ant Group and has since followed up with a widespread crackdown on the country’s most vibrant sectors — causing Chinese stocks to tank.

The logo of Alibaba Group is seen at the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China

 

Alibaba shares sank from an all-time high that month to a record low three weeks ago in Hong Kong, as Beijing stepped up its scrutiny of the company’s practices and urged a restructure of its fintech business. Despite a 30 per cent recovery from Oct. 5, the stock is still 43 per cent lower than its October 2020 peak.

Bloomberg Intelligence expects fiscal second-quarter active users at the e-commerce giant to have beaten consensus projections as a result of China’s zero-Covid policy. Alibaba is set to report earnings on November 5.

Beijing kicked off sweeping reforms of the private sector a year ago by pulling the plug on a planned initial public offering by Ant Group Co, an Alibaba affiliate also founded by Ma. That was followed by an antitrust probe of the e-commerce giant Alibaba for alleged abuses of its market power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ma, who typically kept a prominent profile, largely disappeared from public view in the months that followed. The Communist Party’s campaign moved on to other targets, including delivery giant Meituan and private tutoring companies. Alibaba paid a record $2.8 billion antitrust fine and promised to reform its practices.