HONG KONG ¨C This was supposed to be Jack Ma¡¯s finest hour: A year ago to the day, his Ant Group was meant to go public in a $37 billion blaze of glory. Instead Beijing reined in his empire, abruptly clipping the wings of corporate China¡¯s biggest star.
Now, to the cautious cheer of investors, the billionaire Alibaba e-commerce tycoon is taking his first tentative steps back on to the global stage with a low-key trip to Europe where he¡¯s cultivating hobbies like horticulture.
It¡¯s a far cry from the height of Ma¡¯s statesman-like powers in 2017 when he traveled to New York to meet President-elect Donald Trump for one-on-one talks in Trump Tower days before inauguration and promised to create a million American jobs.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.