Alibaba Founder's Wealth Drops $2,6 Billion After Ant Group IPO Freeze
Jack Ma is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. According to the Forbes billionaire ranking, his fortune decreased by $2,6 billion (to $63,4 billion) in a day. Despite this, according to Forbes, he is still the richest man in China. Nevertheless, by the evening, his fortune increased slightly by $1,6 billion – to $64,7 billion.
Alibaba founder's fortune fell amid the suspension of the IPO of Ant Group, a subsidiary of Alibaba, owning the Alipay payment service, which is used by over 1 billion people. The shares' dual listing was scheduled for November 5 at the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The company could raise $34,4 billion and it would be the largest IPO in history. This event's suspension is due to the receipt of a notice from the PRC regulators, which stated that the company might not comply with the listing or disclosure requirements.
The IPO suspension was also facilitated by significant issues that emerged after a conversation between regulators representatives with top managers of the company and Jack Ma. Because of this, Alibaba shares fell 7,54% the next day.