Billionaire Jack Ma, China’s richest man according to the latest Hurun ranking, saw USD 3 billion of his net wealth vanish on Wednesday morning as Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA; HKEX: 9988) stock price tumbled after the suspension of the USD 34.5 billion dual listing of its fintech affiliate Ant Group, Bloomberg estimated.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday put a temporary stop on Ant’s highly anticipated IPO, saying that the company hasn’t met the latest fintech regulations. After the news, Ant decided to suspend its Hong Kong listing as well, KrASIA reported.
Alibaba, co-founded by Jack Ma in 1999, saw its stock prices tank 8.1% and 6.2% respectively in New York and early Hong Kong trading. Last month, the 56-year-old entrepreneur sparked controversy over a public speech in which he said: “Regulation that does not tolerate risk is stifling innovation,” local media Sina reported.
Ant Group received green light from both bourses earlier and was expected to debut on Thursday. As both a retail and institutional investor of Ant, Ma is in procession of 34% of Ant’s shares, according to the latest prospectus.
Read this: Ant Group’s IPO paused by Chinese regulators
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.
