![]() ![]() Soon after, resignations started to roll in. Now, Elon Musk is under fire again for setting new standards for employees to stay with the company, demanding they commit to an “extremely hardcore” working culture or otherwise quit. At the same time, Musk received tons of criticism for firing about 3700 people, half of Twitter’s workforce, soon after he became the company’s new owner. One of the new features that attracted a lot of attention is the idea of making Twitter users pay for their Twitter ‘blue check’ verification marks. ![]() Ever since, discussions have been ongoing regarding the changes the platform is seeing – and might see – in the near future. Twitter, an American social media platform founded in 2006, was acquired by the business magnet Elon Musk on 27 October 2022 for $44 billion. Although Twitter is officially blocked in mainland China, recent Twitter developments have also become a topic of interest on Weibo. The future of Twitter is a big topic of discussion all around global social media platforms. This is what probably explains decision of Charlie Munger to bet heavily on Alibaba.Twitter is a hot topic on Weibo this week, with many Chinese commenters thinking Musk’s new strategy for Twitter must have been inspired by China’s strenuous 996 work culture. When everything settles down in China, Xi will have a hard time explaining his terrible decisions and saving himself from what seems like an imminent coup. In fact, it has also been reported that there was an attempt on Xi’s life. The people of China must have understood how Xi’s ill-thought trade wars with Australia and an unofficial ban on Australian coal has led to blackouts all across the Communist nation. Moreover, Xi is facing a strong wave of anti-incumbency due to tumbling stock markets, power outages and a bursting real estate bubble. He has been cracking on every possible individual and institution including the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Premier Li Keqiang and Vice President Wang Qishan. ![]() In fact, Xi has been looking quite timid of late. What he has probably understood is that Xi Jinping is facing a major revolt inside China. In any case, it is almost certain that between Xi and Jack Ma, Charlie Munger is backing the latter. Either he has come to know something which others haven’t heard of, or he has simply read something between the lines which prompted him to invest in Alibaba. We swing back to the main issue- why is Charlie Munger investing in Alibaba? After all, if an ace investor bets on a stock, he does it for a reason. When people like Ma and other tech entrepreneurs make the “Shanghai Faction” rich and more powerful, Xi gets enraged and starts cracking down on businesses like a madman. The “Shanghai Faction” remains highly influential because of the money that tech entrepreneurs and other rich businessmen connected to it mint regularly. The CCP is divided into several factions and each faction wants to consolidate the maximum possible power. Therefore, Xi’s problems with Ma are completely political. The problem for Ma and other successful Chinese tech entrepreneurs is that the sitting Chinese President considers the “Shanghai faction” a political challenge and many top officials purged by the Jinping administration have been Zemin supporters. This faction supported Alibaba’s rapid growth before Xi Jinping took charge of affairs. The “ Shanghai Faction” is a group of people considered close to former President Jiang Zemin. Jack Ma and almost all other Chinese tech billionaires are closely connected to the “Shanghai Faction”. Xi had cracked down on Jack Ma and other billionaire entrepreneurs for one particular reason. However, Alibaba’s business remains too big to be destroyed even for someone like Xi Jinping. Ma, who was once the richest man in Asia, remains China’s most popular billionaire yet Xi wants to destroy him instead of celebrating him. Ultimately, Xi’s actions led to Jack Ma’s net worth getting reduced to half in less than a year. A paranoid Xi followed up his antitrust probes and other such vindictive actions against Alibaba with similar actions against other Chinese tech giants and edutech entrepreneurs. After the CCP-Alibaba showdown, Jack Ma himself went missing for some time. Moreover, Xi Jinping’s vindictive character also tends to get personal. Xi is cutting all big businesses to size and China’s Securities and Exchange Commission has even delisted some companies, though Tom Hayes, chairman and managing member of Great Hill Capital, pointed out that Alibaba’s auditor is PwC and it is unlikely that Chinese listings with such big auditors would be removed. The Xi administration has launched antitrust probes against several of Alibaba’s business ventures over the past one year and Alibaba has been fined for monopolistic practices too. Xi Jinping is doing everything under his control to mount trouble on Jack Ma and Alibaba. ![]()
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