Jack Ma vs. the CCP — A closer look at Ant Group’s failed IPO

This appeared in The Millennial Source

With this move, many believe that the CCP is making it very clear to China’s billionaires just what the rules of doing business within the country are.

Being a dedicated communist is the only way to be a successful capitalist in China — that, at least, is how the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees it.

This became more apparent in November, when the CCP blocked the largest initial public offering in history. Ant Group, which is headed by the flamboyant Jack Ma, who also founded e-commerce giant Alibaba, was set to enter the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges with a groundbreaking initial public offering (IPO) of US$34.5 billion.

Previously, Saudi Aramco had the largest IPO at US$29.4 billion and, before that, Jack Ma’s Alibaba produced an IPO of US$25 billion.

But that IPO did not, and may never, happen. The official reason is Ant’s failure to meet financial regulations. But many believed that the reasoning behind Ant’s removal was personal: Jack Ma, who with a net worth of US$65.6 billion is the richest man in China, played his politics wrong.

In addition to being the richest man in China, Jack Ma may also be the most charismatic. The billionaire has been known to dress…