China’s Xi Jinping Personally Ends Record $ 37 Billion Ant IPO After Boss Jack Ma Snubs Government Leaders, Report Says

• Ant Group’s historic $ 37 billion IPO was personally halted by Chinese President Xi Jinping after boss Jack Ma criticized government leaders, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• A week before Chinese fintech went public, Ma made inflammatory comments that did not go well with the president or other government officials, according to the report.
• Xi has increasingly shown low tolerance for large private corporations that accumulate wealth and power as they threaten the authority of the Communist Party, the WSJ said.
• It is not known whether Xi or another government official was the first to suggest suspending the IPO.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Ant Group’s record-breaking IPO was personally halted by Chinese President Xi Jinping after founder Jack Ma snubbed government leaders, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The public listing of Chinese fintech was touted as the largest in history, but new lending rules introduced by China threw a wrench into its plans as financial authorities ultimately suspended the offer.

Xi has not been the biggest supporter of the rise of large private companies that have accumulated wealth and power in the country, as they are seen as a challenge to his authority, the Journal said.

About a week before Ant went public, Jack Ma publicly snubbed China’s regulatory banking rules at a conference in Shanghai on October 24, saying they were not suited to healthy innovation.

Ma quoted Xi Jinping as saying that “success doesn’t have to come from me” and talked about wanting to help solve China’s financial problems through innovation. Government officials did not take his comments well and believed they had damaged the reputation of the president and regulators, the Journal said, citing sources.

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Ma also criticized regulators for applying a set of international banking rules like “a club of old people.”

The president and other government officials, who have read reports of the Alibaba founder ‘s speech, were enraged by the comments, according to WSJ sources. On Xi’s instructions, Chinese regulators investigated Ant’s offer that led to events that led to the suspension of the IPO on November 3.

The fintech had already secured more than $ 3 trillion in orders from individual investors around the world on its dual listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

It is not known whether Xi or another government official was the first to suggest suspending the IPO, WSJ said.

Ant Group did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

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