The House That Jack Ma Built Is China's Own Creation
Alibaba and Ant Group are falling under increased regulatory scrutiny. They wouldn’t have flourished without Beijing’s helping hand.
He didn’t do it alone.
Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Should Chinese regulators determine Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to be a monopoly, they ought to look directly to Beijing for an explanation as to how it happened.
On Thursday, China announced an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant. Ant Group Co. is also in the crosshairs, as the central bank and the banking watchdog will separately summon Ma’s fintech affiliate to a meeting. The swift share price reaction, which saw Alibaba drop as much as 7.9% in Hong Kong trading, indicates investors take these two probes seriously.