Jack Ma returns with a vengeance to ‘Make Alibaba Great Again’

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People familiar with Alibaba’s operations say founder Jack Ma is at his most hands-on since resigning as chairman in 2019.

PHOTO: REUTERS

During China’s yearslong crackdown on the tech sector, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s internal messaging boards lit up with dreams to “Maga” – Make Alibaba Great Again. Now, the company is deploying one of its most potent weapons to accomplish that mission: Mr Jack Ma.

After vanishing from the public eye at the outset of an anti-trust investigation in late 2020, China’s most recognisable entrepreneur is back on Alibaba’s campuses – and he is more directly involved than he has been in half a decade, according to people familiar with the company.

Signs of Mr Ma’s unseen hand are coming into sharper focus, perhaps no more so than in its pivot to artificial intelligence and its declaration of war on e-commerce foes JD.com Inc and Meituan.

Mr Ma was instrumental in Alibaba’s decision to spend as much as 50 billion yuan (S$9 billion) on subsidies to beat back JD’s surprise entry to the market, said one of the people, requesting not to be named because the matter is private.

Alibaba, which since 2023 has been run by two of Mr Ma’s longest-serving lieutenants, Mr Joe Tsai and Mr Eddie Wu, has not said whether Mr Ma has returned in any official capacity. An Alibaba representative did not respond to an email with a detailed request for comment.

But people familiar with Alibaba’s operations say the 61-year-old founder is at his most hands-on since resigning as chairman in