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開啟小鈴鐺通知

檢舉內容

阿里巴巴跟馬雲的下一步 (WSJ)

中國政府對科技新創企業的監管打壓是否已看見曙光？

1. cloud computing
2. Chinese e-commerce
3. global e-commerce
4. digital mapping and food delivery
5. logistics
6. media and entertainment

• globe-trotting 全世界走透透的
• orchestrate 指揮
• breakup/ split-up （公司）拆開
• nimble 敏捷的
• peripatetic 走透透的
• speculation 猜測
• strike a deal 達成協議
• tycoon 大亨
• antitrust 反托拉斯法
• overhaul 重新整頓
• barometer 晴雨表
• regulatory crackdown 監管打壓

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma orchestrated from overseas the corporate breakup of the e-commerce empire he built, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.

Despite having stepped down as executive chairman of Alibaba in 2019, Mr. Ma remained an influential figure at the company and is active in deciding its strategy, the people said. In recent months, he held calls with Alibaba’s top executives, including the current Chairman and Chief Executive Daniel Zhang, urging them to split up the company, saying it would make it more nimble and competitive in China’s increasingly crowded market, the people said.

The peripatetic Mr. Ma, who late last week traveled to Hong Kong where he has a luxury home, was initially planning to head to Japan early this week, according to people familiar with the matter. It remains unclear what prompted the sudden change in his itinerary, and the tycoon’s trip home has sparked speculation as to whether he had struck any deal with China’s government.

The country’s most famous tech billionaire had largely retreated from the public eye since the business empire he built came under Beijing’s scrutiny more than two years ago.

Its affiliated fintech giant, Ant Group Co., had its blockbuster IPO called off by Chinese regulators at the 11th hour in late 2020 along with demands to overhaul its business.

The tycoon’s return in recent days followed repeated outreaches over recent months from Beijing, through retired Communist Party officials and fellow tycoons, people familiar with the matter said. The message they brought sought to appeal to Mr. Ma’s patriotism: It’s time to come back and contribute to China’s development, the people said.

Those entreaties began after the conclusion of the 20th Party Congress in November that saw Chinese leader Xi Jinping tighten his grip on power, the people said. After China’s legislative gathering in early March, new premier Li Qiang devoted much of his first news conference to reassuring entrepreneurs of Beijing’s support for the private sector.

Although Mr. Ma has been absent from the spotlight, his every move has made headlines, and he still casts a long shadow over China’s business environment. His fortunes are viewed at home and abroad as a barometer of Beijing’s attitude toward private enterprises.

“Beijing seems eager to show that prominent entrepreneurs like Jack Ma, once hailed as visionaries and then vilified by the government, are now welcome back in China,” said Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University and a former China head at the International Monetary Fund.

Mr. Ma’s celebrity tycoon status in China, coupled with the outsize influence of tech giants including Alibaba, was out of step with China’s leaders. Regulators later carried out a wide-ranging two-year regulatory crackdown on tech firms that has only recently shown signs of easing up.

To formally split Alibaba into pieces was a thornier task. One of the challenges would be how to place various company veterans and executives, the people said. Many group-level executives would either have to retire or take positions at the subsidiaries.

It was the efforts of Mr. Ma—who still commands respect and loyalty from senior staff—that moved the needle in the decision to split the company, the people said.