Rumors Surrounding Jack Ma Push Alibaba Shares Lower
2022.05.03 15:41
Rumors Surrounding Jack Ma Push Alibaba (BABA) Shares Lower
Shares of Alibaba (HK:9988) fell Tuesday in Hong Kong on the reports that the company’s founder Jack Ma is being investigated over national security concerns.
A report published by Chinese state media showed that the Hangzhou security bureau adopted “criminal coercive measures” against an individual with the last name Ma over suspicion of threatening national security using the Internet.
A separate report by Global Times said that the individual being investigated is the director of a technology company’s hardware research and development business.
However, more recent reports indicated that the individual had a first name with two Chinese characters. Jack Ma’s first name in Chinese has one character.
The security bureau is looking into the case and the mentioned “coercive measures” could mean detention, bail, or arrest.
Jack Ma no longer holds executive roles in Alibaba after he stepped down from the company’s board in 2020.
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) shares are down 0.6% in New York today.
By Senad Karaahmetovic
