Ant is an affiliate of Alibaba, and it was set to raise $37 billion in a public offering. It was expected to be the world’s biggest IPO and could have valued the Chinese tech billionaire’s financial company at $300 billion.
In November, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said the suspension was the result of its interview with Mr. Ma and two Ant Group executives.
It had been reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping personally ordered the country’s securities regulator to pull the plug on Ant Group’s IPO.
In addition to the Ant Group IPO suspension, the Chinese regulators also launched an antitrust investigation against Alibaba.
The crackdown harmed Mr. Ma and the investors of his companies. By the end of December 2020, in just two months, his fortuned dropped by $12 billion to $50.9 billion from around $62 billion, according to data from Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.
Alibaba’s stock declined from its trading price of $317.14 per share on October 27 to $232.73 each on December 31, down by 26%.
