Beijing’s intentions for action are diverse. These include anti-competitive behavior in the tech industry, risk of financial stability from lightly regulated credit platforms, and concerns about the rapid dissemination of sensitive personal information into the hands of large corporations.
It was like shameless PR stunts that Jack Ma might have dreamed of.
But this flamboyant Chinese billionaire was not missing from public view eight months ago. It was Mark Zuckerberg, bobbing up and down on a hydrofoil surfboard, holding an American flag, and beating all the confidence of a man worth $130 billion.
The contrast between the Social Media Mogul’s July 4 Instagram video and the big event of the day in China could hardly have been the starker. Regulators in Beijing banned didi global inc’s ride-app stores-hailing service just hours ago, giving its latest hammer blow to an entrepreneurial elite that once seemed destined to challenge Zuckerberg and his American peers at the top of the world’s wealth rankings.
The age of unfettered profit for China’s ultra-rich now appears to be suddenly fading away.
Even as the world’s 10 richest people added $209 billion to their net worth in the first half of 2021, China’s richest tycoon in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index noticed that their combined fortunes shrunk by $16 billion. Shares of their major companies sank by an average of 13% during this period, the first time in at least six years they have recorded a decline when the broader Chinese equity market was growing. Didi’s stock has fallen 14% on the New York Stock Exchange since its start of June 30, with the company’s co-founders’ assets down by about $800,000,000.
The action behind the loss has only intensified since November when Ma’s ant group company has been forced to pull its film initial public offering at the last minute. Policymakers are tightening rules on some of the most important aspects of Asia’s largest economy, from financial services to internet platforms and data outlining the largest businesses in modern China. In the latest Salve, regulators on Saturday unveiled new draft rules that almost all domestic companies will have to undergo a cybersecurity review before listing in a foreign country.
Beijing’s intentions for action are diverse. They include concerns about anti-competitive behavior in the tech industry, risks to financial stability from lightly regulated credit platforms, and rapid dissemination of sensitive personal information into the hands of large corporations.
Colin Huang, whose e-commerce giant Pinduo Inc. has come under scrutiny for its tireless work program, has abandoned his roles as chairman and CEO and donated billions of dollars in shares. BytesDance Ltd founder Zhang Yiming had said in May that he would step in as CEO and spend more time on educational charity.
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