The news that billionaire Jack Ma was arrested, Alibaba shares plummeted

China Central Television (CCTV) On May 3, it was reported that the Hangzhou City Security Bureau had taken “criminal coercive measures” against an individual with the surname Ma on April 25. He is accused of inciting subversion of state power and other activities that endanger national security.

Follow the channel CNBC“coercive measures” may include detention, arrest or bail.

Sheet Global Times said the individual was “brainwashed by overseas anti-China forces since March 2022”. Under the agitation of an anti-Chinese audience, Ma created an anonymous online group to spread false rumors.

Billionaire Jack Ma. Photo: Reuters

The reason why Chinese netizens speculate that the object of the surname Ma mentioned above is billionaire Jack Ma partly because the name has 2 characters like the above information. CCTVpartly because Hangzhou is where Alibaba’s headquarters is located.

Moreover, China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s anti-corruption agency, on April 20 announced an investigation into the influence of Jack Ma’s fintech empire, including transactions between Ant Group (the financial arm of Alibaba) and Chinese banks and state-owned enterprises.

Previously, at the end of December 2020, the Chinese government announced the opening of an investigation with Alibaba into suspected monopolistic practices and ordered Ant to restructure its operations to comply with regulations on corporate governance. physical.

However, later, Hangzhou City police announced that the accused’s name had three characters, while Jack Ma’s Chinese name (Ma Van) only consisted of two characters.

According to the sheet Global Times, who is alleged in the news as a director of hardware research and development at an information technology company. Global Times confirmed that the information about the accused’s two-letter name was incorrect.

Headquarters of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province – China. Photo: Reuters

According to CCTVThe man’s identity has not yet been revealed. Alibaba and Jack Ma Foundation have not yet commented on the incident.

Meanwhile, on Weibo, some people lead the story further, guessing that the person arrested is Ma Huateng (Ma Huateng), the founder of technology company Tencent. However, Tencent headquarters is located in Shenzhen, not Hangzhou.

After CCTV According to the Hangzhou city authorities, Alibaba Group’s Hong Kong-listed share price fell about 1% in the trading session on May 3, following the previous decline of 9%. Alibaba shares plunged 9.4% in Hong Kong, wiping out about $26 billion in market value.

Alibaba shares rebounded after a statement from the police made it clear that the accused’s name had three characters. Even so, the information of CCTV earlier made many people restless, partly showing the anxiety of investors towards China’s technology sector after a year of being tightened with a series of new regulations.

Billionaire Jack Ma stepped down from Alibaba’s board of directors in 2020, no longer taking on executive responsibility, according to the company’s July 2021 announcement.