Ma’s fortune jumps $2b after Alibaba fine
Beijing summons 34 internet giants after record Alibaba fine
China just slapped a record antitrust fine on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The company thanked the government and investors breathed a sigh of relief.
Alibaba’s American depositary receipts climbed 9.3 per cent on Monday in New York, their biggest jump in almost four years. For Jack Ma, the founder of the e-commerce giant, it meant his fortune increased by $2.3 billion to $52.1 billion.
The $2.8 billion fine is less severe than some investors feared and is based on only 4 per cent of the company’s 2019 domestic sales, far less than the maximum 10 per cent allowed
under Chinese law. While the internet giant will have to adjust the way it does business, its vice-chairman said regulators won’t impose a radical overhaul of its e-commerce strategy.
Full of gratitude
“Alibaba would not have achieved our growth without sound government regulation and service, and the critical oversight, tolerance and support from all of our constituencies have been crucial to our development,” the company said in a letter. “For this, we are full of gratitude and respect.”
Ma has lost billions since his nation’s regulators began an anti-monopolistic campaign, halting the IPO of his Ant Group Co. payments company just two days before it was scheduled to go public.
Meanwhile, Chinese regulators have warned 34 technology giants — including Baidu and Tencent — to “rectify” any anti-competitive measures, a statement said yesterday.
Internal checks
The move suggests Beijing’s scrutiny of its most powerful tech firms is far from over, with regulators warning they will continue to eradicate monopoly practices and telling internet companies to “heed the warning of Alibaba’s case”.
Companies summoned by the regulator include internet giants Baidu, Tencent and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok. The 34 firms have been given one month to undergo “complete rectification” after conducting internal checks and inspections, the statement said, and to correct any practices which “harms competition”.