Source: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Ashare%3A6777423205780008960
#China #BigTech #Regulation of Jack Ma’s Alibaba: China’s government has asked Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to dispose of its #media #assets, as officials grow more concerned about the technology giant’s sway over #public #opinion in the country. #Antitrust #regulators are also preparing to levy a record fine in excess of $975 million over what they call anticompetitive practices on Alibaba’s #ecommerce #platforms.
Discussions over the matter have been held since early this year, after Chinese regulators reviewed a list of media assets owned by the company, whose mainstay business is #online #retail. Officials were appalled at how expansive Alibaba’s #media interests have become and asked the company to come up with a plan to substantially curtail its #media #holdings. The government didn’t specify which assets would need to be unloaded.
Alibaba, founded by billionaire Jack Ma, has assembled a formidable portfolio of #media #assets that span #print, #broadcast, #digital, #social #media and #advertising. Notable holdings include stakes in the Twitter-like Weibo platform and several popular Chinese #digital and #print news outlets, as well as the South China Morning Post, a leading English-language newspaper in Hong Kong. Several of these holdings are in U.S.-listed companies.
