The founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, has delivered his first lecture as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo, as the well-known Chinese businessman pulls back from his corporate empire in the wake of a crackdown by Beijing.
According to a statement from the University of Tokyo on Friday, Ma, who was an English teacher before becoming one of China’s most successful businesspeople, spoke to students on June 12 during a special two-hour seminar about management theory and how to be successful.
Ma’s speech, which was given to students from countries including Malaysia, India, China, and Japan, was based on “his rich experience and pioneering knowledge of entrepreneurship and innovation,” the statement noted.
Ma, a once-flamboyant and vocal businesswoman, had mostly vanished from the public eye after
Ma had previously been a colourful and outspoken businessman, but after he lambasted Chinese regulators in a speech in Shanghai in late 2020, he had mostly vanished from the public eye.
Days after his speech, Beijing cancelled Ant Group’s IPO, which had been planned to be the biggest public offering in history. The action signalled the beginning of a never-before-seen regulatory onslaught on China’s private sector and internet business, which included a record fine of $2.8 billion against Alibaba Group for breaking antitrust laws.
Since that time, Ma has maintained a fairly low profile and is said to have travelled more, spending time in places like Hong Kong, Spain, and Japan, where his friend and fellow Alibaba investor, SoftBank CEO Masa Son, lives.
He came back to the Chinese mainland in March to support Alibaba’s historic reorganisation plan, which divided the business into six distinct businesses. Analysts believe that Beijing used his homecoming as a symbolic gesture and “planned media event” to allay concerns in the private sector.
This year, Ma has made more public appearances while putting a clearer emphasis on her research and teaching. Ma will enrol in the University of Hong Kong’s business school for the upcoming three years, according to an announcement made in April.
According to Ma’s profile page, he started working as a professor at the University of Tokyo on May 1 and will be there through October 31.
Following the seminar, Ma went back to mainland China and spent Saturday in Hangzhou attending a math event sponsored by Alibaba’s research team, the Damo Academy reported. Jack Ma spoke with the winners of the academy’s annual international math competition, which he founded in 2018 and promised would “continue to innovate and bring new fun” to math lovers.
Beijing is more dependent than ever on the private sector to support growth and provide employment. Numerous pieces of evidence indicate that the nation’s economic recovery is stalling.
Bottom Line
Government numbers released last week show that both retail sales and industrial production fell short of expectations in the past month. Youth unemployment for those between the ages of 16 and 24 reached a brand-new high of 20.8%.
The senior officials of the nation, including Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, have made an effort to convince businesspeople and investors that it is safe to make new investments in the nation. Additionally, they have opened their arms wide to foreign companies.
