Jack Ma, once Asia’s richest person, has lost more than half his wealth since he made a speech several years ago criticizing Chinese government regulators, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The Alibaba founder’s net worth has fallen to $30 billion from its 2020 peak of $61.2 billion, Bloomberg projected.
Ma’s lost wealth comes after both Alibaba and Ant Group suffered increased scrutiny from Chinese regulators, costing the companies a combined $850 billion, after Ma publicly criticized China’s regulatory environment several years ago.
In a roughly 20-minute speech in October 2020, Ma lambasted what he called China’s “outdated” financial regulation, saying that the country’s banks suffered from a “pawnshop mentality,” due to a reliance on warranties and collateral. Ma proposed a switch to a credit-based system.