中國首富為保命,砸光3000億? 馬雲落難內幕曝光: 他究竟怎麼得罪了那個人？ — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00I personally don't think you have any
2. 0:01other options. If you don't come back
3. 0:03now, he will definitely handle this
4. 0:04privately. Some things don't need me to
5. 0:06say, you know it in your heart. It's
6. 0:08best to reach out in these next two
7. 0:09days, alright, that's it.
8. 0:10In July 2021, the French Court of
9. 0:12Appeal was hearing a special
10. 0:13extradition case: China was demanding
11. 0:14that France hand over Huang Youlong,
12. 0:16the husband of the red-listed wealthy
13. 0:18businesswoman Zhao Wei. But no one
14. 0:19expected that his defense lawyer would
15. 0:21play a phone recording in court, and
16. 0:22the voice on the other end was none
17. 0:24other than Jack Ma, China's richest man
18. 0:26who had been missing for months. Why
19. 0:27would he, as a leader of the Chinese
20. 0:29business world, step into this mess and
21. 0:30personally act as a lobbyist for a
22. 0:32wanted man? In the recording, Jack Ma
23. 0:33spoke with a trace of helplessness,
24. 0:35revealing the truth.
25. 0:36They came directly to me and said that
26. 0:37in this current situation, I might be
27. 0:39the only one you'd actually listen to.
28. 0:40It turns out Jack Ma was just acting
29. 0:43under orders. Because at that time, he
30. 0:45was deep in his own trouble, and to
31. 0:47settle it, he had poured over 300
32. 0:49billion RMB into it, and that was just
33. 0:52the official fines and the so-called "
34. 0:54donations" for his own safety. What
35. 0:56really hurt him was when Ant Group's
36. 0:58IPO was abruptly halted just 48 hours
37. 1:00before it was set to launch, causing
38. 1:02its valuation to plummet by
39. 1:03three-quarters and 3 trillion RMB in
40. 1:05wealth to vanish into thin air. Even
41. 1:07worse, Jack Ma lost control of Ant
42. 1:10Group entirely. The once globally
43. 1:13renowned richest man in China was
44. 1:15brought down to earth just like that.
45. 1:17To understand how hard Jack Ma fell,
46. 1:20you first have to look at how high he
47. 1:22once stood. What best represents his
48. 1:24peak is that 2019 "Talk between the two
49. 1:26Mas" that shook the world. Jack Ma
50. 1:28appeared extremely arrogant, because at
51. 1:30that point, both in terms of net worth
52. 1:32and reputation, he fully outclassed
53. 1:33Musk. And for those few years, Jack Ma
54. 1:35was laughing and chatting with business
55. 1:37and political titans worldwide, meeting
56. 1:39presidents today and lecturing at the
57. 1:41World Economic Forum tomorrow. On a
58. 1:43whim, he even made a movie, where
59. 1:44international stars like Jet Li, Donnie
60. 1:46Yen, and Wu Jing all scrambled to play
61. 1:48supporting roles for him. Even more
62. 1:50exaggerated was the Alibaba annual
63. 1:52meeting, where 40,000 employees
64. 1:53screamed for Jack Ma as he rode a heavy
65. 1:55motorcycle, wearing a cool mask, and
66. 1:57danced like Michael Jackson in the
67. 1:58center of the stage. The atmosphere in
68. 2:03that venue was like they were creating
69. 2:05a god. It could be said that Jack Ma at
70. 2:08that time had expanded to the extreme.
71. 2:10So when we look back at that talk
72. 2:12between the two Mas, he even openly
73. 2:14mocked Musk's dream of Mars on the spot
74. 2:16. Yes, Musk’s face was ashen, and he
75. 2:21was incredibly embarrassed. But
76. 2:23thinking that just two years later, the
77. 2:25positions of these two men had
78. 2:26completely reversed—Musk soared to
79. 2:28become the world’s richest man, while
80. 2:31Jack Ma suddenly vanished overnight. In
81. 2:332011, at a public event, Musk was asked
82. 2:36about the nature of Chinese tech
83. 2:38entrepreneurs; he pursed his lips in
84. 2:41front of everyone and asked, "Where is
85. 2:44Dr. Jack?" This remark served to settle
86. 2:52the score for the humiliation he
87. 2:54suffered when Jack Ma stepped all over
88. 2:56him at that forum in Shanghai years ago
89. 2:58. To talk about how miserable Jack Ma
90. 3:00was back then, we must go back to the
91. 3:01beginning of the story, to the phone
92. 3:03recording played in a French court
93. 3:05during the trial of the Sun Lijun case.
94. 3:06In 2021, the moment Huang Youlong
95. 3:08stepped off his private jet, he was
96. 3:10detained by French police. The Chinese
97. 3:12government accused him of being
98. 3:13involved in a money laundering case
99. 3:15exceeding 600 million yuan and
100. 3:16requested his extradition from France.
101. 3:18At the critical moment when Huang
102. 3:19Youlong was about to be extradited, his
103. 3:21lawyer submitted a phone recording to
104. 3:23the court, in which Jack Ma bluntly
105. 3:25told Huang, "
106. 3:25I don’t think you have any other
107. 3:27choice; if you don’t come back now,
108. 3:28they will definitely go after you."
109. 3:30He said that powerful figures from
110. 3:31relevant departments had approached him
111. 3:33, demanding he persuade Huang Youlong
112. 3:34to return to China immediately.
113. 3:35Huang’s first reaction was to ask, "
114. 3:37Did they come to you?" Jack Ma replied.
115. 3:39"They came to me directly, saying that
116. 3:41in this situation, maybe you’d listen
117. 3:42to a few things if I were the one
118. 3:43saying them."
119. 3:44Huang Youlong immediately pressed Jack
120. 3:46Ma, "Did they personally guarantee this
121. 3:47to you?" Jack Ma’s answer was, "I
122. 3:49don’t know about guarantees, but
123. 3:51either way, you have no other path.""
124. 3:53I personally think you have no other
125. 3:54choice; they are offering you this
126. 3:55policy now, but if you don't return,
127. 3:57they will certainly go after you."
128. 3:58Simply put, Jack Ma was in a difficult
129. 4:00position himself. To protect himself,
130. 4:02he had to bite the bullet and call a
131. 4:04long-time friend. Ironically, this
132. 4:06recording ended up saving Huang Youlong
133. 4:07, becoming the evidence for the French
134. 4:09court to reject China's extradition
135. 4:10request. Why was that? Because in the
136. 4:13recording, Jack Ma inadvertently
137. 4:14revealed that while China officially
138. 4:15cited a money laundering case, the real
139. 4:17underlying intention was to force him
140. 4:18back to testify as a tainted witness in
141. 4:20the Sun Lijun case. "Some things don't
142. 4:22need me to say—you understand in your
143. 4:24heart that you aren't the target; they
144. 4:26are after Sun Lijun, not you.""You
145. 4:28understand the gravity of the situation
146. 4:29, right? It would be best if I get a
147. 4:31word back these two days. Alright,
148. 4:32that’s it."
149. 4:33Upon hearing this, the French court
150. 4:35concluded, "Isn't this just politically
151. 4:36motivated?" Therefore, it was
152. 4:37immediately determined that Huang
153. 4:38Yonglong would face the risk of
154. 4:39political persecution if he returned to
155. 4:40China, and the extradition request from
156. 4:42China was rejected in court. Now, Huang
157. 4:43Yonglong is off the hook, but Jack Ma
158. 4:45is in an even more awkward position.
159. 4:46One must realize that the point at
160. 4:47which Jack Ma was forced to make this
161. 4:49call was right at the height of the
162. 4:50anti-monopoly investigation into
163. 4:51Alibaba. Having experienced various
164. 4:52summons himself, he was already like a
165. 4:54Bodhisattva crossing a river, barely
166. 4:55able to save himself. He forced himself
167. 4:57to make those calls, originally hoping
168. 4:58it would be a chance to cooperate with
169. 4:59the government and earn merit to offset
170. 5:00his faults, but who would have thought
171. 5:02that by being quick-tongued and
172. 5:03revealing the high-level authorities '
173. 5:04true intentions, he would instead mess
174. 5:05everything up. It seems this doomed
175. 5:07Jack Ma to no possibility of a comeback
176. 5:09, because his opponent, the one truly
177. 5:10in charge and pulling the strings
178. 5:12behind the scenes, was none other than
179. 5:14China’s top leader, Xi Jinping. Under
180. 5:16such extreme fear, he began frantically
181. 5:18leveraging his connections, trying to
182. 5:20request meetings with those in Xi
183. 5:22Jinping’s inner circle. As it turned
184. 5:24out, no one was willing to see him;
185. 5:25everyone stayed far away. Completely at
186. 5:28his wit's end, Jack Ma ultimately had
187. 5:29no choice but to write a personal
188. 5:31letter to Xi Jinping and submit it. In
189. 5:33the letter, he displayed an extremely
190. 5:34low profile, not only expressing a deep
191. 5:36reflection on his past actions but also
192. 5:38clearly stating his willingness to
193. 5:39dedicate the rest of his life to rural
194. 5:41education and poverty alleviation in
195. 5:42China. Just like that, that once
196. 5:44arrogant and flamboyant Jack Ma, who
197. 5:45had been placed on a pedestal by
198. 5:46countless people, finally realized
199. 5:48after being struck by the General
200. 5:49Secretary’s iron fist that he could
201. 5:50only end up as a rural
202. 5:51poverty-alleviation teacher. Now, you
203. 5:53might be curious whether the General
204. 5:54Secretary ever saw this letter. Of
205. 5:56course he did; at an internal
206. 5:57high-level meeting in May 2021, the
207. 5:59General Secretary even publicly
208. 6:00mentioned the letter. As for whether
209. 6:02the General Secretary forgave him, that
210. 6:04is a different matter. Before answering
211. 6:06this question, we must first figure out
212. 6:08how exactly Jack Ma offended so many
213. 6:10people. Everyone thinks Jack Ma
214. 6:12suffered this disaster solely because
215. 6:14of that speech at the 2020 Bund Summit,
216. 6:16where he scolded the regulators. To be
217. 6:18fair, this argument sounds quite
218. 6:20reasonable, but if everyone really
219. 6:21thinks that, it’s just too simplistic
220. 6:23. His remarks at the Bund were at best
221. 6:25just a fuse; in reality, the General
222. 6:27Secretary’s dissatisfaction with Jack
223. 6:29Ma’s arrogance had been brewing for a
224. 6:31long time. Let’s go back to September
225. 6:332015, when Xi Jinping visited the
226. 6:34United States and attended a China-US
227. 6:36business leaders' symposium in Seattle.
228. 6:37At a top-tier political and diplomatic
229. 6:39event like this, every entrepreneur's
230. 6:41speaking time was strictly limited to
231. 6:42about three minutes, and everyone
232. 6:44followed the rules by reading their
233. 6:45scripts and leaving. However, Jack Ma,
234. 6:47once he started, spoke incessantly and
235. 6:49went on for nearly ten minutes; Xi
236. 6:50Jinping’s expression turned sour
237. 6:52right there on the spot. You should
238. 6:54know who the real lead is at this level
239. 6:56of conference, but Jack Ma went on
240. 6:57stage and actually made the General
241. 6:59Secretary his background. Even worse,
242. 7:01the General Secretary's displeasure
243. 7:03with Ma wasn't just about his ego. In
244. 7:05August 2017, Hong Kong Chief Executive
245. 7:07Carrie Lam visited Alibaba's
246. 7:08headquarters in Hangzhou. As the two
247. 7:10were deep in conversation, Ma suddenly
248. 7:12remarked.
249. 7:13If we at Alibaba had a "one country,
250. 7:14two systems" policy here in Hangzhou,
251. 7:16we can't even imagine what we could
252. 7:17achieve. Perhaps he only intended to
253. 7:19ask for better policies and more
254. 7:21autonomy for the Zhejiang business
255. 7:23community, but to the General
256. 7:25Secretary's ears, this was a clear
257. 7:26overstep. Thus, another entry was added
258. 7:29to the General Secretary's blacklist,
259. 7:31yet the overconfident Ma remained
260. 7:33completely unaware of the danger.
261. 7:35Instead, he grew even bolder. In 2017,
262. 7:38Ma reached the most radical—and
263. 7:41infuriating—highlight of his career.
264. 7:44In January of that year, Trump had just
265. 7:46taken office as U.S. President. China
266. 7:48and the U.S. were still testing the
267. 7:50waters, and even the General Secretary
268. 7:51hadn't formally met Trump yet, but Ma
269. 7:53took his private jet to Trump Tower and
270. 7:55met with him first. When speaking to
271. 7:57reporters downstairs after their talk,
272. 7:59Ma proudly declared to cameras around
273. 8:01the world, "Alibaba will help create
274. 8:02one million jobs in the U.S. over the
275. 8:04next five years." This statement left
276. 8:06Trump beaming with joy. Anyone unaware
277. 8:08would have thought Ma was an envoy sent
278. 8:10by Xi Jinping. But the problem was,
279. 8:12Beijing had no idea that Ma was going
280. 8:14to see Trump. The General Secretary
281. 8:16only found out that Ma had already
282. 8:18finished his meeting after seeing it on
283. 8:20the live TV news. From Ma's perspective
284. 8:22, he was one of the world's richest men
285. 8:23; what was the problem with him
286. 8:25discussing business? But in the eyes of
287. 8:27the General Secretary, as the head of
288. 8:29the nation, I am arranging diplomatic
289. 8:31channels, so why does a mere
290. 8:33businessman have the right to bypass
291. 8:35the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and run
292. 8:37off to the U.S. to negotiate 1 million
293. 8:39jobs with the President? Simply put: he
294. 8:42was stealing the spotlight. "Stealing
295. 8:44the spotlight" is an understatement; it
296. 8:46was an act of insubordination. And so,
297. 8:48Ma was fiercely noted down once again
298. 8:50in Xi Jinping's little black book.
299. 8:52Looking back, if Ma had known his place
300. 8:54and kept a low profile, perhaps the
301. 8:56story wouldn't have ended so tragically
302. 8:59. But during those years, the money,
303. 9:01resources, and influence in his hands
304. 9:03made it impossible for him to be
305. 9:05low-key. In business, Jack Ma
306. 9:07controlled Taobao, Tmall, Alipay,
307. 9:09Alibaba Cloud, and Cainiao Logistics,
308. 9:11later adding Ant Financial. In terms of
309. 9:13public opinion, Alibaba's capital
310. 9:15aggressively invested in major media
311. 9:17outlets, financial news, Youku, and the
312. 9:19South China Morning Post. At the time,
313. 9:21people were saying that Alibaba was
314. 9:22buying up half of China's media
315. 9:24landscape. Moreover, Jack Ma wasn't
316. 9:26satisfied with just being a rich man;
317. 9:28he wanted to be a spiritual godfather.
318. 9:29He founded Hupan University, recruited
319. 9:31a large group of entrepreneurs, and
320. 9:33traveled everywhere giving speeches
321. 9:34about his mission, values, and the
322. 9:35future. A crowd of top entrepreneurs
323. 9:37would respectfully call him "Teacher"
324. 9:39and treat his boasts as gospel. Over
325. 9:41time, Jack Ma even developed his own
326. 9:43ideological system. In the eyes of Xi
327. 9:45Jinping, this was just like him trying
328. 9:47to emulate the "Xi Jinping Thought" by
329. 9:49creating a "Jack Ma Thought." And it
330. 9:51didn't end there; Jack Ma touched the
331. 9:53red line he shouldn't have, and the
332. 9:55General Secretary became determined to
333. 9:57take him down. Let's rewind to 2018. At
334. 9:59that time, Ant Financial had completed
335. 10:01its final round of pre-IPO financing. A
336. 10:03single move raised $ 14 billion,
337. 10:05shocking the global private equity
338. 10:07world. But what was truly terrifying
339. 10:09wasn't just the amount of money; it was
340. 10:10the shareholders behind it—all
341. 10:12powerful figures with intimidating
342. 10:14backgrounds. It included Jiang Zemin's
343. 10:15grandson, Jiang Zhicheng's Boyu Capital
344. 10:17; Jia Qinglin's daughter and Li Botan's
345. 10:19Zhaode Investment; financial magnate
346. 10:21Liu Zutao's Chunhua Capital; as well as
347. 10:23the family interests of former Zhejiang
348. 10:25leader Zhou Jiangyong. In other words,
349. 10:27by that time, Ant was no longer just a
350. 10:28company, but a massive interest bloc
351. 10:30that combined state capital,
352. 10:32international capital, old-guard elites
353. 10:33, and local power brokers. And the most
354. 10:35critical point was that there was
355. 10:37absolutely no sign of the interests of
356. 10:38Xi Jinping’s family or his faction
357. 10:40within it. Yet, Jack Ma at the time
358. 10:41felt no fear at all; instead, he felt
359. 10:43his position was as stable as Mount Tai
360. 10:45. Because he believed he still held a
361. 10:47trump card: Li Qiang and Cai Qi.
362. 10:49Especially Li Qiang, who had paved the
363. 10:51way for Jack Ma from Zhejiang to
364. 10:52Shanghai, providing policies and land
365. 10:53whenever needed. Beijing's leader, Cai
366. 10:55Qi, also kept his doors wide open to
367. 10:57Alibaba, personally facilitating their
368. 10:59interests. So, from Jack Ma's
369. 11:00perspective at the time, he had people
370. 11:02in Beijing, Shanghai, and Beidaihe, and
371. 11:04a bunch of connected "red capital"
372. 11:06shareholders back home in Zhejiang—
373. 11:07what was there for him to be afraid of?
374. 11:09It was precisely this serious
375. 11:11misjudgment that caused Jack Ma to
376. 11:13completely lose his final chance. On
377. 11:15October 24, 2020, at the Bund Summit in
378. 11:17Shanghai, the audience was filled with
379. 11:18almost every heavy hitter in China's
380. 11:20financial circles. Before Jack Ma took
381. 11:22the stage to speak, Vice President Wang
382. 11:24Qishan specifically interrupted the
383. 11:25video to emphasize the General
384. 11:27Secretary's directive: to hold the line
385. 11:28against systemic financial risks. Yet,
386. 11:30as soon as Jack Ma stepped up, his very
387. 11:32first sentence slapped Wang Qishan in
388. 11:34the face, claiming that China doesn't
389. 11:36have systemic financial risk, but
390. 11:37rather no system at all; China's
391. 11:39financial sector fundamentally lacks a
392. 11:41system and suffers from the risk of
393. 11:43having no system. In his second
394. 11:44sentence, he lashed out at China’s
395. 11:45major state-owned banks, calling their
396. 11:47mindset that of a pawnshop.
397. 11:48The essence of finance is credit
398. 11:50management. We must abandon the current
399. 11:53pawnshop mentality in finance.
400. 11:55In his third point, he sharply
401. 11:56criticized the financial regulators of
402. 11:58the time, saying they were using
403. 11:59medicine for senile dementia to treat
404. 12:01China's financial sector, which is
405. 12:02currently in its adolescence. Like
406. 12:04other developing nations, China's
407. 12:06financial sector is in its youth; while
408. 12:09senile dementia and polio may look
409. 12:12similar, they are two completely
410. 12:14different diseases. These three
411. 12:16statements may seem to be about the
412. 12:18financial system on the surface, but
413. 12:19between the lines, every single word
414. 12:21was an act of defiance against the
415. 12:22General Secretary. When his words
416. 12:24reached Beijing, Jack Ma’s remarks
417. 12:26were defined as a blatant provocation
418. 12:28by capital against national sovereignty
419. 12:30, and the "tab" the General Secretary
420. 12:32had been keeping on Ma was flipped
421. 12:34straight to the final page. From then
422. 12:36on, Jack Ma’s days were numbered; on
423. 12:38November 2nd, four Chinese ministries
424. 12:40jointly summoned him, and on November
425. 12:423rd, his highly anticipated IPO was
426. 12:44indefinitely suspended. Immediately
427. 12:47following the anti-monopoly crackdown,
428. 12:49Alibaba was hit with a staggering 18.2
429. 12:51billion yuan fine, Alipay’s Huabei
430. 12:53and Jiebei services were gutted, and
431. 12:55later, Ma completely lost actual
432. 12:57control over Ant Group. He then
433. 12:59vanished from the public eye, and when
434. 13:01he finally resurfaced, he was in a very
435. 13:03strange state. One moment in Spain, the
436. 13:05next in the Netherlands, then in Tokyo,
437. 13:07Japan, and later appearing in Australia
438. 13:09. In the past, when Ma visited Europe,
439. 13:11headlines read "Jack Ma Meets Head of
440. 13:12State," but now they have changed to "
441. 13:14Jack Ma Visits Greenhouse in the
442. 13:15Netherlands," transforming him into a
443. 13:16retired old man studying how to grow
444. 13:18vegetables. Furthermore, this state of
445. 13:20Jack Ma's has been given a very vivid
446. 13:22term by the outside world: "political
447. 13:24exile." In other words, he is wandering
448. 13:27everywhere to avoid China. At this
449. 13:29point, you might be curious. Since it
450. 13:32is said that Jack Ma learned his lesson
451. 13:34and was determined never to return to
452. 13:35China, why did he eventually return?
453. 13:37The drama behind this story is so
454. 13:38intense it could be made into a movie.
455. 13:40By the end of 2020, as the three-year
456. 13:42pandemic drew to a close, China's top
457. 13:43real estate firms were too afraid to
458. 13:45invest, and foreign investors were
459. 13:46panicked. The Chinese government
460. 13:47urgently needed someone everyone
461. 13:49recognized to tell the world that doing
462. 13:50business in China was safe, and the
463. 13:52most suitable person for this was, of
464. 13:53course, Jack Ma. It was at this moment
465. 13:55that Li Qiang, a good friend of Jack Ma
466. 13:56, stepped in. Li began reaching out
467. 13:58through Ma’s old contacts and even
468. 13:59dispatched special envoys to Japan and
469. 14:01the Netherlands to find him. They
470. 14:02passed on a private message to Jack Ma:
471. 14:04"Come back, you are safe." Jack Ma is
472. 14:06certainly no child. Relying on Li
473. 14:08Qiang’s word alone was clearly not
474. 14:09enough; he wanted to personally clarify
475. 14:11the General Secretary's true attitude.
476. 14:13This is where the Chearavanont family
477. 14:14of Thailand’s CP Group enters the
478. 14:16picture. This group is no ordinary
479. 14:17enterprise; the fourth-generation
480. 14:19heiress, Theresa Chearavanont, married
481. 14:20into the family of Xi Jinping’s
482. 14:21nephew. By that calculation, the CP
483. 14:23Group’s Chearavanont family are
484. 14:24essentially relatives of Xi Jinping by
485. 14:26marriage—a genuine "gold-plated"
486. 14:27connection. So, in January 2023, Jack
487. 14:29Ma made two high-profile appearances in
488. 14:31Thailand, meeting frequently with CP
489. 14:33Group chairman Dhanin Chearavanont.
490. 14:35Global financial media erupted, with
491. 14:37outsiders speculating about a massive
492. 14:39partnership, which drove the stock
493. 14:41prices of CP Group’s listed companies
494. 14:43through the roof. In reality, these two
495. 14:45trips to Thailand were never about
496. 14:47business. Plainly speaking, Ma was
497. 14:49there to test the waters and find out
498. 14:51how Xi Jinping intended to handle him,
499. 14:53and whether he would be arrested upon
500. 14:55his return. Once he had gauged the
501. 14:56situation and received substantive
502. 14:58guarantees from Li Qiang, Ma finally
503. 15:00felt secure enough to head back. On the
504. 15:02other side, what Xi Jinping wanted was
505. 15:04simple. The offer of over 300 billion
506. 15:06yuan in exchange for safety was
507. 15:07something Xi didn't even care about;
508. 15:08what he truly wanted was for Jack Ma to
509. 15:10disappear from the public eye. He
510. 15:11wanted a ironclad promise. When Li
511. 15:13Qiang relayed this, the condition was
512. 15:15that as long as Jack Ma kept his mouth
513. 15:16shut and stopped crossing political red
514. 15:18lines in the future. "Surrender your
515. 15:19influence, and your personal safety,
516. 15:21your wealth, and your retirement will
517. 15:22be backed by the Party." Jack Ma’s
518. 15:24response was: "I will listen.""From now
519. 15:27on, I am just a retired teacher, and
520. 15:28that is all." In 2023, following the
521. 15:30conclusion of the new "Two Sessions,"
522. 15:31Li Qiang officially took charge of the
523. 15:33State Council. At that same time, Jack
524. 15:35Ma ended his long period of overseas
525. 15:36residence and appeared at the Yungu
526. 15:38School in Hangzhou. Global media
527. 15:39exploded, and this was exactly the
528. 15:41effect Li Qiang wanted. Persuading Jack
529. 15:43Ma to return to reassure global capital
530. 15:45became Li Qiang’s first major task
531. 15:46upon taking office. Time flew to 2024,
532. 15:48the 20th anniversary of Ant Group. Jack
533. 15:51Ma made a rare public statement, but
534. 15:53this time he said: "
535. 15:55I thank everyone for their
536. 15:56encouragement of Ant over the years,
537. 15:58and I am even more grateful for the
538. 16:00criticism, as it is this encouragement
539. 16:02and criticism that have helped Ant grow
540. 16:04and mature." Hearing the word "
541. 16:05criticism," I really want to give
542. 16:07Teacher Ma a thumbs-up. His
543. 16:09world-record IPO was scrapped, he was
544. 16:11fined over 20 billion yuan, he
545. 16:12voluntarily handed over 100 billion
546. 16:14yuan for "common prosperity," his
547. 16:15personal wealth shrank by hundreds of
548. 16:17billions, and he lost actual control of
549. 16:19his company. After losing so much, he
550. 16:21summed it all up in one sentence: "
551. 16:23Thank you to the organization for the
552. 16:24criticism that helped me grow." It
553. 16:26seems that Teacher Ma’s greatest
554. 16:28progress in recent years is his acting
555. 16:30skills. By February 2025, Xi Jinping
556. 16:32held a symposium for private
557. 16:33enterprises, and this time Jack Ma was
558. 16:35sitting in the front row. As Xi Jinping
559. 16:37entered the venue, Jack Ma immediately
560. 16:39stood up, smiling and clapping
561. 16:40vigorously; later, the two even shook
562. 16:42hands. Just like that, the long-absent
563. 16:44Jack Ma finally returned to the
564. 16:46presence of the top leader. However,
565. 16:48this time Jack Ma finally learned one
566. 16:51thing: the safest way to express
567. 16:54oneself is not to brag, but to kowtow
568. 16:56to the leader. The irony of Jack Ma’s
569. 16:59story is most striking when it comes to
570. 17:01Huang Youlong, who is in France. He
571. 17:02didn't believe in China's rule of law,
572. 17:04so he asked Jack Ma, "Did they
573. 17:06personally guarantee this?" And Jack Ma
574. 17:08, who passed on the message, didn't
575. 17:09trust the rule of law either; he waited
576. 17:11overseas year after year, using every
577. 17:12connection to ask, "Did they personally
578. 17:14guarantee this?" Looking back at the
579. 17:152019 "Dialogue between the Two Mas," it
580. 17:17feels even more ironic. The gap has
581. 17:19widened far beyond just wealth. Elon
582. 17:21Musk can openly criticize the U.S.
583. 17:23government and even win lawsuits
584. 17:25against state governments; he bought
585. 17:26the world's largest social media
586. 17:28platform, X, to trade insults with the
587. 17:30U.S. President. And what about Jack Ma?
588. 17:32Despite having staggering wealth and
589. 17:34influence, he has to rely on others
590. 17:36just to find out if he can safely
591. 17:38return home, only to end up standing
592. 17:40humbly before power, clapping
593. 17:42vigorously. So, one thing makes me
594. 17:44particularly curious: if Jack Ma were
595. 17:47an American living in the U.S., what
596. 17:49would his life be like? And what if
597. 17:52Elon Musk were Chinese?