Alibaba is now under investigation in China for monopolistic practices. The United States is investigating the monopoly of Facebook or Google, but other countries are also doing something similar with their tech giants.
An antitrust investigation announced Thursday caused the shares of the e-commerce giant to plummet. They fell 8.6 percent to a minimum of five months in Hong Kong because of the news and intensified the problems of its billionaire founder Jack Ma.
- Nvidia’s acquisition of ARM is being investigated by the FTC
- Zoom is under investigation in the United States
- The European Commission investigates Google about Fitbit
Jack Ma is one of the country’s richest people with an estimated fortune of $58 billion.
Alibaba is being investigated for “alleged monopolistic practices,” according to the State Market Regulation Administration, and Alibaba has responded in the only possible way: “We will actively cooperate with the regulators on the investigation.”
China is investigating Alibaba for its monopolistic practices
One of China’s concerns is to cause fear with its tightly controlled banking system. Alibaba also has a financial services subsidiary called Ant Group. It is an online payment platform deeply rooted in China’s economy and it has expanded to offer loans, credit, investment, and insurance to hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.
Jack Ma was a professor, and criticized China’s financial system at the time, calling the state banks “pawn shops”, which brought him some problems with the government.
Richard McGregor, senior researcher for East Asia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney states that: “There is an underlying political message, that no company, and no individual, can grow so big in China to the point where they can potentially challenge the authority of the CCP.”
