Jack Ma Returns to China and Breaks Up the Company He Built

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News, Business News

4.2 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 5 April 2023

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder of Alibaba, all but disappeared from the public eye following a brush with Chinese regulators in 2020. But last week, Ma returned to China just as Alibaba announced plans to split into six independently run companies. WSJ’s Jing Yang explains what it all means. Further Reading: - Jack Ma Engineered Alibaba’s Breakup From Overse as - Jack Ma’s Life After Alibaba Takes Him to a Fish Farm, Fiji and Beyond - Alibaba Co-Founder Jack Ma Returns to China After a Year Away Further Listening: - Why the Biggest IPO Ever Blew Up - Didi's IPO Gets Caught In China's Tech Crackdown - Xi Jinping Is Rewriting the Rules of China's Economy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	For years, one name has dominated the business world in China.
0:10.2	Jack Ma.
0:12.8	Ma is a billionaire and the co-founder of Alibaba, one of the world's biggest e-commerce companies.
0:18.9	Jack, you know, is arguably the most famous Chinese businessman on the global stage.
0:25.5	Our colleague, Jing Yang, has written a lot about Ma.
0:29.1	We used to be seeing and hearing him everywhere.
0:32.7	He's very fluent in English.
0:35.1	He's pretty much self-taught.
0:37.2	15 years ago when I stepped my business, I asked my wife, do you want a husband to be
0:42.6	a rich person or a respected business people?
0:45.4	He likes to talk, he likes the media, he likes to be a thing I heard.
0:50.0	You said, of course, I want you to be respected because you never thought I would be rich, I think.
0:57.6	Ma is also famous for throwing massive company parties, where he'd sing in performance
1:02.2	stage in front of thousands of people.
1:04.6	Oh, Ma, but then in 2020, after giving a speech that criticized Chinese regulators,
1:16.9	Jack Ma all but disappeared.
1:19.7	And people started wondering, where is Jack Ma?
1:22.8	The mystery now is running Tech Tycoon Jack Ma.
1:25.8	The Chinese billionaire business magnet has not been seen in public since October.
1:30.8	But then last week, Jack Ma reappeared.
1:38.4	Welcome to the journal, our show about money, business and power.
1:42.6	I'm Ryan Knudsen.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.