China’s spat with billionaire Jack Ma is part of bigger push to control big tech Beijing is moving towards a comprehensive regime for regulating competition among digital platforms. Jack Ma has reportedly not been seen in public since October. | Bobby Yip/Reuters Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma has allegedly fallen out with the Beijing government. Severalrecent articles reported that Ma offended the Chinese authorities by delivering a speech in Shanghai in October criticising financial regulation and that he and his colleagues were called in for questioning. The planned initial public offering of his financial services powerhouse, Ant Group, for over $30 billion, was suddenly suspended. Antitrust investigations were instigated against his other major company, online retailer Alibaba (and also Chinese tech giant, Tencent).