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Jack Ma

This Month

Alibaba has decided to go big on AI.

Why China’s Alibaba has risen from the dead

Alibaba’s shares have surged after it bet big on AI – in a surprise reversal of fortunes for the e-commerce giant, which had fallen out of favour among investors.

  • Cecile Vannucci
OpenAI Chief Sam Altman and SoftBank Chief Masayoshi Son joke around on stage at their event in Tokyo.

Billionaires Altman and Son bet big on each other

Tech entrepreneur Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son lead talks over a record deal to make the Japanese investor the biggest backer of the ChatGPT-maker.

  • David Keohane, George Hammond and Arash Massoudi

September 2024

Why it’s dangerous to be super rich in China

The number of billionaires has fallen 35 per cent in China, and corporate leaders may be devaluing their wealth, amid fears the state is targeting the rich.

  • Ruchir Sharma

June 2024

Employees take naps during lunch hour at Tencent in Guangzhou, China.

China’s faltering tech giants push workers to the limit

As Chinese technology executives face a new reality of low growth, rising competition and investor apathy, many are making tough demands on staff.

  • Updated
  • Ryan McMorrow and Nian Liu

May 2024

Shophouses on Telok Ayer Street in Singapore.

Ray Dalio joins billionaires snapping up historic Singapore houses

The Bridgewater Associates founder’s family office has bought two heritage ‘shophouse’ properties for about $28.6 million

  • Mercedes Ruehl
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February 2024

Alibaba has launched another share buyback.

Alibaba approves another $38b in buybacks after sales slump

The Hangzhou-based group is trying to stage a comeback from years of brutal government punishment and strategic missteps.

  • Jane Zhang

October 2023

Terry Gou, founder of Foxconn Technology Group, has grand plans for Taiwan.

China puts world’s biggest Apple supplier in its crosshairs

Foxconn founder Terry Gou is testing his long relationship with Beijing as geopolitics reshape supply chains.

  • Kathrin Hille
Xi Jinping regulatory plans will weaken the power of state institutions such as the People’s Bank of China.

Xi tightens financial sector control with new super-regulator

The Central Financial Commission, which President Xi Jinping announced in March, will serve as the de facto watchdog.

  • Cheng Leng and Edward White
Autonomous delivery vehicles for Cainiao near the Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou, China. There are concerns around Alibaba’s European hub in Belgium.

Belgium monitors Alibaba hub over ‘espionage’ concerns

European governments have been increasing scrutiny of the alleged security and economic risks posed by Chinese companies.

  • Laura Dubois and Qianer Liu

July 2023

Antipodes’ John Stavliotis.

Alibaba’s break-up turned this fundie more bullish

Antipodes’ John Stavliotis says the market environment is an opportunity to buy quality and resilient businesses in China.

  • Joanne Tran
President Xi Jinping is adhering to a stance called dingli, or “maintaining strategic focus”.

Why Xi Jinping needs a plan B for China’s economy

As growth has failed to pick up post-COVID, calls are growing louder for the president to launch a weighty stimulus package.

  • Joe Leahy, Sun Yu and Chan Ho-him

The super rich are snapping up Tokyo’s new ultra-luxury homes

Tokyo’s luxury apartments are more affordable than comparable cities. A buyer with a million dollars can purchase twice as much prime real estate than in New York.

  • Lisa Du
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has paid a high price in Beijing’s tech crackdown.

One man’s fight with China cost investors $1.3 trillion

The $1.5 billion fine that China imposed on Jack Ma’s companies last week is just a tiny amount of the economic pain that Beijing inflicted on investors in Alibaba and Ant.

  • Lulu Yilun Chen and Jane Zhang

May 2023

Bubs founder and CEO Kristy Carr and former executive chairman Dennis Lin with boxes of baby formula bound for the US last year.

Inside the Bubs board fallout

Bubs co-founder Kristy Carr and former executive chairman Dennis Lin were at an event in China in early April. Days later a board spill erupted. They were out, but tensions had been simmering for some time.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

March 2023

Jack Ma made Alibaba into a global success story, but times have changed in China.

Alibaba break-up may serve as China template for Big Tech

The Chinese tech giant addresses two objectives that have eluded many of its rivals: appeasing a distrustful government and investors traumatised by a regulatory crackdown.

  • Updated
  • Jane Zhang
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Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, speaks at the China Development Forum.

China promises Tim Cook, Ray Dalio an open economy

New Premier Li Qiang reassured foreign investors gathered at a Beijing forum of the country’s commitment to opening wider to the outside world.

  • Philip Glamann
Jack Ma

Jack Ma returns to China to allay private sector fears

China’s new premier has been asking for the return of the country’s best-known entrepreneur, thinking it could help boost business confidence.

  • Julie Zhu, Kane Wu and Kevin Huang

February 2023

Bao Fan

Missing Chinese banker was working to set up Singapore family office

China Renaissance chief Bao Fan was establishing a fund to safeguard his wealth before his disappearance.

  • Mercedes Ruehl, Tabby Kinder and Leo Lewis
Jack Ma at a Melbourne hotel this week.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma visits old friends in Australia

China’s once celebrated Jack Ma has been spotted in Australia where he is visiting old friends away from the Communist Party’s gaze.

  • Michael Smith
Bao Fan, founder of China Renaissance.

Missing Chinese dealmaker casts chill across tech sector

The fate of China Renaissance banker Bao Fan is seen as a test of Beijing’s stance after a regulatory crackdown.

  • Thomas Hale, Ryan McMorrow and Kai Waluszewski

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/jack-ma--businessman--1n5r