Everything to Know about Jack Ma’s Arrest

The Chinese business magnate Jack Ma has been a concern for people in the business world, following the unconfirmed report of his arrest on Tuesday, which eventually led to the stock fall of the Alibaba Conglomerate.

According to CCTV, The Chinese State broadcaster, an individual with the last name Ma was arrested in Hangzhou, Alibaba’s home city by the Chinese police on charges of using the internet to engage in activities endangering national security.

Another State-backed tabloid Global Times separately reported, citing the Hangzhou security bureau, that the person under investigation is the director of a tech company’s hardware research and development department.

Investors, fearing that the individual in question was Alibaba’s billionaire founder Jack Ma, quickly dumped their shares, causing the stock to crash by as much as 9.4%, erasing about $26 billion in value.

However, a further report on CCTV clarified that the arrested individual’s full name has three characters, debunking their initial reports that the suspect’s full name had two characters. That distinction made all the difference. The full name of Jack Ma, whose given name in Chinese is Yun, has only two characters.

The broadcaster also noted that the report was to reflect a clarification issued by Hangzhou’s police.

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Disappearance from the Public eye

Prior to Jack ma arrest, he has been in a tussle with the Chinese government, after giving a speech given at the annual People’s Bank of China financial markets forum,  where he criticized China’s regulators and banks.

Responding to the critique, the Chinese authorities suspended the IPO of Ant Group, Alibaba’s fintech affiliate. Regulators also launched an antitrust investigation into the e-commerce group, resulting in a record $2.8 billion fine for anti-competitive behaviour in April 2021.

Jack was the richest man in China as of 2014, due to his $21.8 Billion Networth as of then. In 2017, Ma was ranked second in the annual “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” list by Fortune. He is widely considered an informal global ambassador for Chinese business,

In 2019, Forbes named Ma in its list of “Asia’s 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy” for his work supporting underprivileged communities in China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. He is presently ranked 67 on the Forbes Billionaire ranking.