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Jack Ma has filmed action scenes with top martial artists, sang duets with pop stars, and appeared at corporate gatherings dressed as a glam rocker and masked Michael Jackson impersonator. A wallflower that he is not.
Speculation therefore spread after the prominent entrepreneur and co-founder of the Alibaba Group disappeared from public view late last year. He had criticized Chinese regulators for what he called their overly cautious attitude towards the country’s financial system, and authorities cracked down on his business empire soon after. After that, he began to skip previously scheduled appearances, prompting questions in China and international media about his plight.
Mr. Ma now appears to be trying to end the speculation.
On Wednesday, he made his first public appearance since the end of October. He spoke at a live broadcast event honoring Chinese village school educators. He did not address his issues, but said he would spend more time in philanthropic efforts.
“During this time, my colleagues and I have learned and reflected,” he said, according to a transcript of his words published in local media. “We will embark more resolutely into educational philanthropy.”
Mr. Ma, a former English teacher, said it was incumbent on business leaders of his generation to work for common prosperity by revitalizing rural areas and expanding village education. His speech was consistent with his recent efforts to move away from Alibaba’s day-to-day operations and focus more on philanthropy, although he retains considerable influence over his business empire.
His remarks were covered extensively in the Chinese state news media, suggesting at the very least that Beijing’s censorship machine approved of his remarks. His appearance brought relief to some investors, who pushed Alibaba shares in Hong Kong up about 9% in afternoon trading.
Mr. Ma, who led Alibaba from its founding in 1999 until its rise as one of the world’s largest and most valuable technology companies, has long been cautious of the Chinese government. Like many entrepreneurs in the country, he has forged links with the Beijing authorities to avoid any regulatory issues.
But the rise of Alibaba’s sister company, Ant Group, has put it increasingly at odds with the Chinese state-dominated financial system. Ant Group, which was once a subsidiary of Alibaba and provides services such as electronic payments and loans, now plays an important role in the financial lives of many Chinese. He had planned an initial public offering late last year in Shanghai and Hong Kong, in what is expected to be the largest fundraiser of its kind.
But in October, at a public event, Ma accused China’s state-owned banks of behaving like “pawnshops” and the country’s financial regulators of limiting innovation by obsessing over risk.
About a week later, the government suspended Ant Group’s IPO and then ordered it to change its business practices. Then he started an antitrust investigation on Alibaba.
Amid the official backlash, Mr. Ma began to retire from previously scheduled appearances, including as a judge on an African entrepreneur-themed talent show he had created. This sparked speculation, especially after other entrepreneurs who defied the Chinese bureaucracy were severely punished.
Republicans on Tuesday announced their opposition to the economic plans of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., urging Janet L. Yellen, his candidate for Treasury secretary, to defend a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus proposal that would provide more direct payments to individuals, expanded unemployment benefits and money for states and cities.
Republican opposition to the Senate Finance Committee during Ms Yellen’s confirmation hearing highlighted the challenge the new Biden administration will face in trying to push its proposal through Congress given the tight control it has in the Senate and in the House.
“We envision another spending explosion,” said Republican Senator Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania. “The only organizing principle that I can understand, it seems, is to spend as much money as possible, seemingly for the sake of spending it.
Mr Toomey has challenged Mr Biden’s plans to send more money to states and cities, a move Republicans opposed last year and which was scrapped in the latest round of talks. stimulus in order to get the passage of aid from the $ 900 billion package. He also expressed concern over the tax increases proposed by Mr Biden and his call to increase the minimum wage to $ 15.
South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott seized on Mr Biden’s call to raise the minimum wage by $ 7.25, arguing from Ms Yellen it would hurt small businesses when they are vulnerable and lead to more job losses.
Other Republicans have complained that Biden’s economic plan is fiscally irresponsible given the country’s growing debt and the federal budget deficit, which topped $ 3 trillion last year. Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said Mr. Biden’s plan is not sufficiently targeted and that giving an additional $ 1,400 in direct payments to some people who have not lost their jobs does not constitute not efficient use of federal resources.
Ms Yellen refuted their arguments point by point, arguing that doing too little to stimulate the economy would be more costly in the long run. She said economic research has shown minimal job losses due to the increase in the minimum wage, citing studies of neighboring states where one imposes an increase and the other does not.
She also argued that unemployment benefits, which under Mr Biden’s scheme would be supplemented by an additional $ 400 per week, are not enough to cope with the financial hardships facing families and that stimulus checks of $ 1,400 are important in situations where one person, usually a woman, has left a job to care for out-of-school children.
“Many families bear exceptional financial burdens that are not covered by unemployment benefits,” she said.
Ms Yellen offered assurances to Republicans worried Democrats would repeal the entire 2017 tax law, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses. She said that if Mr Biden wants to make changes to the law, including raising the corporate tax rate, such actions are not an immediate priority.
“Right now the goal is to provide relief and help families keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, not to raise taxes,” he said. she declared.
The re-launched paycheck protection program got off to a smoother – and slower – start than last spring, when desperate borrowers flooded banks with loan applications and overwhelmed government information systems.
The program opened wide on Tuesday as the Small Business Administration, which manages the relief program, began accepting applications from all lenders. The agency allowed a small subset of community lenders and small banks to start submitting their applications last week.
In the first week of the program, the agency approved about 60,000 applications from nearly 3,000 lenders, she said Tuesday. These requests totaled $ 5 billion, consuming about 2% of the $ 284 billion the program can lend.
These figures do not include loan requests sent to the agency on Tuesday, the first day most lenders were allowed to send loan requests. New fraud checks and other safeguards mean that most requests will now take at least a day to be approved.
The program is open to both first-time borrowers and certain returning borrowers: the hardest hit small businesses, those whose sales have fallen by at least 25% since the start of the pandemic, are eligible for the program. a second loan.
Lenders have said they are preparing for significant demand, especially for second-round loans. John Asbury, managing director of the Atlantic Union Bank in Richmond, Va., Said he expected at least 60% of his bank’s 11,000 borrowers to return for another loan.
Treasury Department officials said they expect funding for the program will be sufficient to meet all demands. Mr Asbury hopes this is true.
“We just don’t know how much of a rush we’ll be,” he said. “We get a lot of calls.”
Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s have said they are dropping products from MyPillow amid a backlash at comments from Mike Lindell, the bedding company’s chief executive, who has promoted debunked conspiracy theories involving the election on social networks.
Mr Lindell said Kohl’s and Bed Bath & Beyond acted after people on social media started pressuring them, according to an interview posted Monday on a pro-Trump site called the Right Side Broadcasting Network. Mr Lindell, who said he spoke with Bed Bath & Beyond a few minutes before the interview, claimed without citing evidence that the reviews came from fake accounts.
Bed Bath & Beyond said on Tuesday its decision was rooted in MyPillow’s performance. “We have streamlined our assortment to end a number of underperforming items and brands,” a representative said in a statement. A spokeswoman for Kohl’s said “there has been a drop in customer demand for MyPillow” and the chain had no plans to purchase future inventory after it sold off its supply.
Mr. Lindell, whose company is a major advertiser on Fox News, has become a prominent supporter of President Trump. He drew a wave of attention last week after a photograph of partially visible notes he carried to the White House showed a mention of the insurgency law. MyPillow also offered a “FightforTrump” discount code on the day of the Capitol Riots. On social media, groups like Sleeping Giants, which was set up to stifle advertising funds for Breitbart News, asked vendors about their support for MyPillow products.
Mr. Lindell cursed Sleeping Giants during the interview.
“These guys don’t get it, they’re scared,” Mr. Lindell said of Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s. “They were good partners. In fact, I told them, you come back whenever you want.
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