Jack Ma continues to lose money while his company is investigated by the Chinese authorities

January 4, 2021 3 min read

• Last year the fortune of the Chinese millionaire reached 61.7 billion dollars, so Ma was on the verge of becoming the richest man in the Asian country again.
• In November 2020, an Alibaba affiliate would become the largest public offering for sale in history. However, the operation did not materialize.

Alibaba and AliExpress founder Jack Ma has lost about $ 11 billion, dropping his net worth to $ 50.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Last year the fortune of the Chinese millionaire reached 61.7 billion dollars, so Ma was on the verge of becoming the richest man in the Asian country again. However, scrutiny by antitrust authorities against the mogul’s companies has caused his assets to plummet.

In November 2020, an Alibaba affiliate would become the largest public offering for sale in history. Ant Group expected to raise more than $ 34 billion jointly on its listing on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

^{Image: Depositphotos.com}

However, these plans fell through after Chinese regulators launched a last-minute investigation and suspended the transaction. This caused the shares of Alibaba, a company that owns 33% of Ant Group, to fall and with them the fortune of the businessman.

According to the BBC , when the fintech company’s IPO was suspended, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange commented that Ant Group “may not meet standards for listing and transparency requirements.” He also suggested that “recent changes” in the regulation of digital finance could have become an obstacle.

This is how the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced in a statement that it is investigating Alibaba Group for “suspicion of monopolistic conduct.”

^{Jack Ma / Image: Depositphotos.com}

So far it is only known that the investigation is related to the exclusivity policy of Jack Ma’s group, which forces merchants to sell only on Alibaba and prevents them from doing so on other rival platforms.

The Central Bank of China ordered a reorganization of operations for Ant Group to retify its insurance, loan and wealth management services. And he suggested that Ma’s company go back to its electronic payments beginnings.