Jack Ma has comfortably sat at the top of the Chinese entrepreneur food chain for many years. In October 2020, things changed. Credit: World Economic Forum / Sandra Blaser, Creative Commons
He is arguably the most successful businessman in Asia. Jack Ma built not one but two companies that topped $150 billion in market value — something only Elon Musk has done with Tesla and PayPal. And along the way, Ma (who Forbes estimates is worth $60 billion) also built a series of investment firms as well as a financial and entertainment empire that produces films, television programs, sells insurance and, several years ago, helped take control of one of the world's hottest mobile gaming startups, an Israel-based firm called Playtika.
While it's not clear Ma retains a stake in Playtika, one of his close business partners does. In this week's Big Picture, we look at the Jack Ma Empire and his network of longtime friends and business partners. It's an interesting group to watch at a time when Ma has disappeared from public view.
After he criticized financial regulators in a speech in Shanghai last October, Beijing canceled the initial public offering of his financial services
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
When Ken Wilcox, a former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, moved to Shanghai in 2011, he was optimistic and eager to start up the bank's new joint venture in China. A decade later, however, he is extremely cynical about U.S. business interests in China. While analysts will, rightly, be debating SVB's missteps in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, Wilcox insists the bank's challenges in China should not be overlooked.
The former secretary of state talks about how the Trump administration changed U.S.-China relations; why he accused Beijing of genocide in Xinjiang; and why U.S. politicians should visit Taiwan.
