♪.
CONNELL: WE’RE BACK HERE WITH A
CRAZY STORY.
CHINA’S MOST FAMOUS TECH TYCOON
SEEMS TO HAVE DISAPPEARED.
THE BILLIONAIRE, FOUNDER OF
ALIBABA, JACK MA, HAS NOT MADE
ANY PUBLIC APPEARANCES IN MORE
THAN TWO MONTHS NOW AFTER HE
MADE A COMMENT ALLUDING TO THE
NEED TO REFORM CHINA’S FINANCIAL
SYSTEM.
HIS BRAINCHILD, THE FINANCIAL
GROUPS INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
HAS BEEN CALLED OFF BY BEIJING.
HERE TO DISCUSS THIS IS ADAM
LASHINSKY, BUSINESS INSIDER
COLUMNIST.
ADAM A FOX BUSINESS CONTRIBUTOR.
I KNOW YOU INTERVIEWED JACK MA A
COUPLE TIMES.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE STORY?
>> YES.
WELL, IT’S, ONE OF THOSE
UNFORTUNATE REMINDERS THAT DOING
BUSINESS IN CHINA IS DIFFERENT
FROM DOING BUSINESS IN OTHER
PLACES.
EVEN SOMEBODY AS PROMINENT AS
JACK MA ANSWERS TO THE STATE AT
SOME POINT AND ESPECIALLY IF,
LIKE HIM, YOU BECOME VERY BIG
AND VERY POWERFUL.
EVEN BEFORE THIS STRANGE AND
PERHAPS REALLY UNFORTUNATE
OCCURRENCE, CONNELL, WE DON’T
KNOW WHAT IT IS, THERE WERE
SIGNS THAT HIS WINGS HAD BEEN
CLIPPED.
YOU KNOW A FEW YEARS AGO HE SORT
OF ALMOST, SORT OF SUDDENLY
ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS GOING TO
STEP DOWN FROM HIS JOB AS CEO
AND CHAIRMAN OF ALIBABA.
AND THE FEELING, THE WHISPERS
THEN WERE THAT HE HAD BECOME TOO
POWERFUL IN XI XINPING’S CHINA.
CONNELL: THAT’S THE KEY,
XI XINPING’S CHINA.
OVERS LAST NUMBER OF YEARS, 30,
40 YEARS, INDIVIDUALS THROUGH
THE SYSTEM CHINA HAS HAVE BECOME
EXTREMELY WEALTHY.
JACK MA IS BEST KNOWN OF THEM.
THERE ARE OTHER EXAMPLES.
THE QUESTION NOW IS WHETHER THAT
CAN CONTINUE.
AS YOU SAY WE DON’T KNOW WHAT
HAPPENED TO JACK MA, BUT JUST
BROADLY SPEAKING, CAN SOMEONE
WHO BECOMES AGAIN,
EXTRAORDINARILY WEALTHY
ESSENTIALLY BY TAKING ADVANTAGE
OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM SUCCEED OR
EXIST IN XI XINPING’S CHINA
GOING FORWARD?
>> YOU KNOW, IT IS ROUGHLY
ANALOGOUS TO WHAT HAS HAPPENED
IN VLADMIR PUTIN’S RUSSIA.
THERE WERE ALL THESE BILLIONAIRE
OLIGARCHS WHO WERE ALLOWED TO
MAKE THEIR MONEY AND TO BECOME
FABULOUSLY POWERFUL SO LONG AS
THEY ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD WHO THE
REAL POWER WAS AND I THINK THAT
WASN’T THE CASE IN CHINA BEFORE
XI XINPING, DURING THE PREVIOUS
30 SOME YEARS OF THE MIRACULOUS
RISE OF THE CAPITALIST, MARKET
DRIVEN ECONOMY IN CHINA.
IF YOU WANT TO ANALGIZE IT TO
PUTIN’S RUSSIA, YOU CAN BE A
BILLIONAIRE, YOU CAN MAKE A LOT
OF MONEY.
YOU CAN HAVE VILLAS AROUND THE
WORLD BUT YOU CAN’T EVER
CHALLENGE NOT JUST XI XINPING
BUT THE COMMUNIST PARTY OR THE
STATE.
THERE WERE SIGNS JACK MA HAD
DONE THIS, NOW WE’RE SEEING WHAT
WE’RE SEEING.
CONNELL: THERE IS ONE BIG
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHINA AND
RUSH THAT, WELL THERE ARE A LOT
OF BIG DIFFERENCES IN TERMS OF
ECONOMICS, THERE ARE NOT MANY
AMERICAN BUSINESSES THAT MAKE A
LOT OF MONEY RELATIVELY SPEAKING
IN RUSSIA.
THERE ARE TOO MUCH AMERICAN
BUSINESSES AND BUSINESS PEOPLE
WHO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY IN
CHINA.
DOES ALL OF THIS HAVE ANY
IMPLICATIONS DO YOU THINK FOR
THOSE PEOPLE, TIM COOKS OF THE
WORLD?
>> I THINK YOU’RE ASKING, YOU’RE
ASKING EXACTLY THE RIGHT
QUESTION.
THERE IS A NARROW WAY AND
BROADWAY TO LOOK AT THIS.
THE NARROW WAY WOULD BE THIS IS
ABOUT JACK MA AND ALIBABA AND
THAT’S IT.
WE HAVEN’T SEEN SIMILAR BOLD
MOVES AGAINST SOME OF THE OTHER
GIANT INTERNET, CHINESE INTERNET
COMPANIES.
BROADWAY OF LOOKING AT IT, THIS
IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
IT’S A REMINDER TO WESTERN
BUSINESSES THAT YOU CAN PLAY IN
CHINA BUT YOU BETTER, TWO
THINGS, YOU BETTER BE DARN SURE
YOU KNOW WHAT THE RULES ARE, BY
THE WAY, THE RULES MIGHT CHANGE
ONCE YOU’RE SURE YOU KNEW WHAT
THE RULES WERE.
I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO CHINA
YOU KNOW WESTERN BUSINESSES
CONTINUE TO OPERATE THERE BUT IT
IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO THE
COMMUNIST PARTY THAT THEY
OPERATE THERE UNDER THEIR RULES.
CONNELL: YEAH.
WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT IN A
BROADER CONTEXT AND I’M GLAD YOU
DID, ADAM.
WE DON’T KNOW IF ANYTHING
HAPPENED OR ANYTHING HAPPENED TO
JACKMA.
THIS ILLUSTRATES ANOTHER
IMPORTANT STORY.