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Jack Ma is reportedly vacating his position as the president of the academy he helped build and co-founded. He will be stepping down and giving up his role at Hupan University, a known elite business academy that was launched six years ago.
Bloomberg reported that Jack Ma’s move comes amid the Chinese government’s crackdown on his influence on the business sector and the country itself. This situation was said to have been revealed by individuals who are familiar with the matter.
Chinese authorities went after the billionaire
Jack Ma is slowly losing his grip in China’s business world, and it all began during his public speech in October where he strongly criticized the government. Since then, his companies, including Alibaba Holdings, were monitored by financial regulators and was ordered to revamp its system for alleged monopoly and other regulatory issues.
Jack Ma also disappeared from view and was even suspected of having been imprisoned, but that was never confirmed. He is still rarely seen in public these days, and they were saying that the Chinese businessman has fallen from grace since he blasted Beijing's regulators.
The biggest blow for Jack Ma was the postponement of Ant Group’s initial public offering earlier this year. It was put on hold while probes on the billionaire’s businesses are ongoing.
Ma’s departure from the elite school of business
Amid the issues in his companies, Jack Ma was said to have also exited from Hupan University in Hangzhou. He co-founded this, and it specializes in training programs for executives and entrepreneurs.
As per the Financial Times, the school restructured its curriculum not long ago because the Chinese authorities were concerned that Jack Ma was creating a network that is against the Communist party’s objectives.
Its name also changed, and the word “university” was said to have been dropped because it is said to be not an official university. Then again, the academy’s website and social media show that it has been renamed the Hupan Innovation Center.
Another big change is that Jack Ma is not its president anymore. Despite this, it was reported that he expressed his intent to remain connected to the school but will not hold any high-level position anymore.
