In his all-round turnaround, Ma accused the country's banks of a "pawnhouse mentality", among other things. "good innovation is not afraid of regulation, but it is afraid of outdated regulations," Ma was quoted. The future should not be regulated "with yesterday's methods". The outcome is known: a short time later, the regulators stopped the IPO of Alibaba & APOs; s financial subsidiary ANT Group, which was planned only days later. It should have been the biggest IPO ever. Alibaba also got caught in the crossfire on other fronts, which is now also being investigated by the Chinese antitrust authority for alleged monopoly offences. And Ma? Was he actually arrested, as is now partially speculated in the West? With 100% certainty, this presumption cannot be denied, since even Alibaba does not seem able to clarify the facts. Observers who know Ma and Alibaba consider an arrest to be as good as impossible. "Ma was most likely advised to keep his feet still first and not to draw any further attention to himself and Alibaba," says a long-time Alibaba connoisseur.
