Jack Ma’s Clash With Beijing Costs Ant, Alibaba $850 Billion

China to end probe of Ant with fine of almost $1 billion
Alibaba’s market value is off by about $620 billion from peak

WATCH: Ant Group Co. is proposing to buy back as much as 7.6% of shares in an effort to retain talent and provide a chance to cut stakes for investors. Annabelle Droulers reports.Source: Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Lulu Yilun Chen and Jane Zhang

July 9, 2023 at 8:36 AM UTC

Updated on

July 10, 2023 at 2:01 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

As Jack Ma’s clash with the Chinese government draws to a close after almost three years, it’s clear how costly the conflict has proven for his companies, Ant Group Co. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Chinese authorities said on Friday they would wrap up a probe into Ant with the financial technology company paying a fine of almost $1 billion. The investigation began after Ma critiqued Beijing’s regulation of the financial sector in 2020, forcing Ant to pull the plug on what would have been the largest initial public offering in history.