Jack Ma lost more than 4 billion USD because of Ant Group

Jack Ma's stake in Ant Group has plummeted as the payments firm's valuation was just 25% of what it was three years ago.

Jack Ma’s 9.9% stake in Ant is down $4.1 billion from a year ago, according to calculations by the Bloomberg Billionaire Index — based on analyst estimates, Fidelity Investments and Ant Group’s latest share buyback plan.

Once China’s richest man, the 58-year-old billionaire is now worth about $30 billion — less than half his peak fortune — before Ant planned to launch the world’s largest IPO in 2020. Chinese authorities said last week they would close their investigation into Ant and fine the company nearly $1 billion.

Jack Ma in an interview with Bloomberg. Photo: Bloomberg — Jack Ma in an interview with Bloomberg. Photo: *Bloomberg*

After regulators ordered the IPO to be postponed, the fintech firm has had to overhaul its business model, withdraw from sensitive areas and limit competition with state-owned banks. Ant’s valuation has dropped from $315 billion before the IPO to $78.5 billion, according to an acquisition plan Ant proposed a few days ago.

“Ant will probably have to rebuild its profit base, as its 2022 profit is only half that of 2020, despite the investigation coming to an end. We believe Ant’s value is only around $24 billion to $60 billion,” said Francis Chan, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

In late November 2022, Fidelity lowered Ant’s valuation to $63.8 billion. The fintech giant said its final quarter 2022 profit fell 56% year-on-year.

Jack Ma relinquished control of Ant Group in January. In its 2022 annual report, Alibaba also reaffirmed that Jack Ma's stake in the company would "gradually decline over time" to below 8.8%.

Jack Ma has been in hiding for the past few years. He has been mostly abroad, studying agriculture. He recently took up teaching at a university in Tokyo. Jack Ma is now the fifth richest person in China, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Ha Thu (according to Bloomberg)

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