The Communist Party of China is considering nationalising Jack Ma’s Alibaba and the Ant Group, as per reports.
This move comes at the point when Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is looking to raise as much as $8 billion selling dollar bonds as early as next week, giving global investors a chance to bet on the Chinese e-commerce giant’s long-term prospects.
Notably, the company and its co-founder is facing intense pressure from the government in China for the past few months.
“Based on tip-offs received by the State Administration for Market Regulation in recent days, the administration will be investigating Alibaba … for suspected monopolistic activities,” International Business Times quoted the Chinese government as saying.
Interestingly, Jack Ma had delivered a speech on 24 October criticising China’s bureaucratic system, alleging that it stifled innovation and he equated banking regulations to an “old people’s club”. And since then, he is nowhere to be seen at least in front of the public eye.
This absence created speculations when a statement released by Alibaba said: “Due to a schedule conflict Mr. Ma could no longer be part of the finale judge panel of Africa’s Business Heroes earlier this year (2020).” Notably, this TV show was created by Jack Ma himself.
