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

Jack Ma's stake in Ant Group has plummeted as the payment firm's valuation is 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, which is based on analyst estimates, Fidelity Investments and Ant Group's latest share buyback plan.

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

Jack Ma in an interview with Bloomberg. Photo: Bloomberg

After being asked by regulators to postpone its IPO, the fintech firm has had to restructure its business model, withdraw from many 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 the acquisition plan Ant proposed a few days ago.

“Ant will likely 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, senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Fidelity cut Ant’s valuation to $63.8 billion in late November 2022. The fintech giant said its fourth-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 mainly abroad, studying farming . Recently, he has also been teaching at a university in Tokyo. Jack Ma is currently the 5th richest person in China, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Ha Thu (according to Bloomberg)

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