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Jack Ma was snubbed by China’s state newspaper when it released a list of Chinese business leaders, and the Alibaba founder’s name is missing. He was always one of the best businessmen in his country, so the action of leaving out his name is an indication that Beijing is not in favor of him anymore.
The business article that dropped Jack Ma
As per Reuters, Shanghai Securities News, which is also known as Xinhua News, the official state-run press agency of the People's Republic of China, published an article that bears a list of the best known entrepreneurial leaders in the country.
Ren Zhengfei of Huawei, Lei Jun of Xiaomi, and BYD’s Wang Chuanfu have all been listed, and they were praised for their contributions to the republic. Alibaba is as famous as the other Chinese brands, but apparently, Jack Ma is no longer considered as one of the business leaders in China even though his company is still one of the biggest corporations in his country.
The paper was published on Feb. 2, and this was the same day when Alibaba was scheduled to post a report of the company’s latest quarterly profits. Just a little while after the article was published, Jack Ma’s company revealed its revenues soared by 37%. Its quarterly gain was partially due to the most recent Singles’ Day shopping campaign that generated high sales of$ 74.1 billion, SCMP reported.
Why Jack Ma was shunned
It is believed that the businessman was snubbed due to the words that he spat out during his Oct. 24 speech. He criticized his country’s regulatory system, and as a result, the state slapped Ant Group with a suspension for its $37 billion IPO, and this happened just days before the listing.
Moreover, regulators also launched an anti-trust probe against Alibaba’s tech sector. Imposing stricter business regulations for Ant Group was also discussed. As China runs after Alibaba, Jack Ma suddenly disappeared from the public eye.
He was not seen for almost three months, and there were lots of speculations as to where he could have gone or what might have happened to him. The rumors stopped when Jack Ma re-emerged last month via a short video clip that was posted on social media.
