Jack Ma Adds US8.2 Billion To Bank Account
Jack Ma just keeps getting richer.
The Alibaba founder saw his wealth grow to the tune of about US$8.2 billion after he cut his stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant to 4.8% from 6.2% last year, according to an Alibaba Holding's fiscal 2020 report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Even after cashing out shares, though, Ma remains the largest individual shareholder. The divestment comes as Ma retired as the Chinese e-commerce company's executive chairman in September and pulled back from formal business roles to focus on philanthropy, according to Reuters.
Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai also reduced his stake in the company over the same period, from 2.3% to 1.6%. The offloaded shares were worth US$3.3 billion as of Friday.
Alibaba shares have increased about 40% year-on-year amid China's economic slowdown from COVID-19, but the company has profited greatly from an increased online sales countrywide, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile SoftBank Group Corp.'s shares of Alibaba dropped to 24.9%, a 1% decrease from last year, although SoftBank holds its rank as the largest corporate shareholder.
SoftBank as of mid-June completed a US$4.7 billion buyback program over the course of three months as the Japanese company spent heavily to bolster its share price against losses incurred on shares in businesses including WeWork, Oyo Hotels and Uber Technologies Inc.
At the end of March, SoftBank sold off about US$14 billion of shares in Alibaba before kicking off the buyback spree.
The Reuters report also confirmed that the president of Alibaba's e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall, Jiang Fan, was expelled from the company in April for allegedly harming Alibaba's reputation through accusations of marital infidelity. Aside from the ouster, Jiang's financial incentives for fiscal year 2020 were forfeited.
China Gold Rich Fund Execs Being Prosecuted For Graft
The Shenzhen People's Prosecutorial Office recently completed criminal investigations and preceded with the prosecution of Qin Peng, the chairman and legal representative of China Gold Rich Fund Management, and another eight company officials for financing fraud.
China Gold Rich illegally raised up to RMB2.155 billion through three funds, the prosecutor's office said. Only RMB313 million was cashed out to the investors, while RMB1.841 billion was improperly used as equity funds for the firm itself. Some of the funds were transferred abroad to stock-trading businesses, the China Securities Daily reported.
About 1,400 individual fund investors fell victim to the scam - most of them former employees of the firm.
Founded in 2011, Shenzhen-based China Gold Rich had been making payments to investors on its investment products from 2014 until May 22, 2019, when investors suddenly received a liquidation letter.
In April, the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) disqualified the membership of Shenzhen China Gold Rich Fund Management and put Qin Peng on a black list, a reprimand that will last for five years.
Qin Peng, who was arrested in February, formerly worked at China Merchants Bank and Yintai Securities. He became general manager of China Gold Rich in 2011 and had 27 companies related to fund and investment management under his name.
Cause Of Horrific Guizhou Bus Crash Uncovered
The cause of a bus crash that took place July 7 in Anshun city in southwestern China's Guizhou province, which led to 21 deaths and 15 injuries, was unveiled to public on Sunday by Anshun Police.
The chief suspect in the case is the 52-year-old driver of the bus, who had been drinking a mixed alcoholic beverage with the local clear-distilled spirit baijiu before the incident, the police said. The driver died in the accident.
The police said he had a a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .064%, according to the autopsy report. Under the Chinese standards, a BAC equal to or above 0.02% but under 0.08% is considered to be driving under the influence, and a BAC equal to or above 0.08% constitutes driving while intoxicated.
Those on board the bus were students traveling to take the high-stake national university entrance exam, a critical event for students seeking educational opportunities, especially for those from poorer families.
Footage from the incident showed that around noon on July 7, the bus moved slowly on a bridge before making a sharp turn, crossing over six lanes of the dual carriageway and plunged into a 33 meter-deep section of the Hongshan Reservoir in Xixiu District of Anshun. The police defined the crime as generally endangering public security.
The police detailed that on the morning of the crash, the bus driver had complained to a public service hotline that his rented apartment had been torn down early without notice; meanwhile his application for relocation funds and public rental accommodations had not been approved.
Earthquake Alert System Worked As Planned Before Tangshan Temblor
Before the 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit the northern city of Tangshan on Sunday morning, the Earthquake Early Warning Center at the Chengdu-based Institute of Care-Life (ICL) successfully sent out warning signals to northern cities including Qinhuangdao, Chengde, Tianjing, Beijing and Tangshan.
Through cellphone, television, internet television and APPs that have earthquake pre-warning functions, ICL sent messages to users three seconds ahead in Tangshan, 26 kilometers away from earthquake epicenter, and 33 seconds ahead in Tianjin, 131 kilometers away from earthquake epicenter, China News Service reported. The event was felt in Beijing, over 150 kilometers away.
Established after the May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan Province, ICL has given off 57 earthquake alerts. The warning network covers 31 provinces and 2,200,000 square kilometers.
Sunday's earthquake happened in the aftershock zone of the magnitude 7.8 Great Tangshan Earthquake 44 years ago. There were no reports of any deaths or injuries related to Sunday's earthquake, state media reported.
Sunday's 5.1 earthquake affected 1,952 square kilometers and 137 counties and villages with 1,560,000 people, ICL reported.
China On Alert Over Flooding
China raised its flood response alert to the second-highest level on Sunday after 13 locations along the Yangtze River Basin exceeded historical high water marks within the same day.
In Jiangxi province, Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, exceeded 22.52 meters, marking a historical high. Lake Dongting in Hunan province rose up to 34.56 meters, exceeding the alert level by 2.06 meters.
Meanwhile, in Jiangsu province, heavy rains pushed Lake Tai, linked to the renowned Grand Canal and the origin of a number of rivers, to rise 4.45 meters.
Experts expect Lake Tai to exceed 4.5 meters and approach the critical safety level this week.
More than 200 rivers in China have exceeded alert levels since early July, with 19 rising to historic highs, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.
