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Ant Group’s $ 37 billion IPO was frozen shortly after its billionaire co-founder Jack Ma gave a speech contradicting the Chinese Communist Party’s economics.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has personally decided to pull the plug from Ant Group’s $ 37 billion initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing Chinese officials with knowledge of the matter.
The decision to stop what would have been the largest IPO in the world came just days after billionaire founder of financial technology giant Jack Ma launched a public attack on the country’s banks and financial gatekeepers.
President Xi has ordered Chinese regulators to effectively investigate and block Ant’s listing, the report said.
Ant Group did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. The State Council Information Office, the Chinese cabinet, could not be contacted immediately for comment.
But he said at the Shanghai summit on October 24 that the regulatory system was stifling innovation and needed to be reformed to fuel growth. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the speech triggered a chain of events that torpedoed Ant’s listing.
Immediately following Ma’s fierce speech, state regulators began compiling reports including one on how Ant had used digital financial products like Huabei, a virtual credit card service, to encourage the poor and young to run up debt.
The State Council General Office compiled a report on public sentiment regarding Ma’s speech and presented it to senior executives, including President Xi, according to Reuters.
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