SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The founder of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, has been excluded from a list of Chinese business leaders published by state media – the piece that highlights how far he has fallen into disfavor with Beijing.
China’s most famous businessman was not mentioned in a front-page article published by Shanghai Securities News. Instead, Ren Zhengfei of Huawei Technologies, Lei Jun of Xiaomi Corp. and Wang Chuanfu of BYD were praised for their contributions.
It was published on Tuesday when Alibaba will also report its latest quarterly earnings. The e-commerce giant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The catalyst for Mom’s current misery was a speech on October 24 in which he exploded China’s regulatory system, leading to the suspension of its $ 37 billion Ant Group stock exchange, just days before the listing of the fintech giant. .
Regulators have since launched an anti-trust investigation into the technology sector with Alibaba taking much of the heat, while stricter regulations for Ant Group are also being considered.
Mom, who is not known for scrambling away from the limelight, then disappeared from the public eye for about three months, causing furious speculation about his whereabouts. He re-emerged last month with a 50-second video appearance.
The Shanghai Securities News said that although some of the entrepreneurs who praised them once behaved like ‘reckless heroes’ in their efforts to break away from an old, rigid economic system, they now lead a group of companies who complied with the rules for development and the market rules. ”
Reporting by Brenda Goh; Additional reporting by Josh Horwitz; Edited by Edwina Gibbs