Alibaba, one of the world’s largest digital marketplaces, experienced a surge in its stock price early Monday morning when its founder and former executive chairman Jack Ma made an unexpected return to the country after spending over a year abroad. Ma,
who ignited a conflict with Beijing when he critiqued financial regulation in late 2020, visited a Hangzhou Yungu School, which he and other co-founders of Alibaba funded in 2017.
Founded by billionaire Jack Ma in 1999, Alibaba is a massive e-commerce business based in China. It operates an array of businesses in many different sectors, including wholesale trading, retailing, payment services, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The company has since gone on to become one of the largest companies in the world and is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BABA. Aside from its phenomenal stock performance, Alibaba also remains one of the most influential and successful technology companies of our generation.
Jack Ma, Alibaba’s charismatic former executive chairman, has been in the spotlight recently after his very public criticism of Chinese financial regulations. His public criticism prompted Chinese officials to take action in the form of a full-on assault on the e-commerce giant, which resulted in the company’s stock price plummeting by more than two-thirds of its value. After months of back-and-forth between Beijing and the e-commerce titan, Ant Group, which was once a subsidiary of Alibaba, was forced to reduce its bond with Alibaba and Ma. A move that ultimately cut ties between Alibaba and Ant Group.
Now that Jack Ma is back in the country, many investors are hopeful that this finally signals the end of animosity between him and the government. At the school, Ma discussed the future of artificial intelligence in education, saying “We must use AI to solve problems, not to be controlled by AI.” With Alibaba stock yet again rising 4%, traders are expected to keep a close eye on the 8 and 30-week moving averages to see if BABA will hold its value and break into the supply zone between $103 and $105.30 in the near future.
