(dramatic music) - [Narrator] This is the speech that got China's most famous entrepreneur, Jack Ma, into trouble. (speaking in foreign language) - He kind of slid directly into criticism of the Chinese regulatory environment, saying things, for example, that China has a pawnshop mentality, every traditional, old-school. But it didn't come off as very funny. (speaking in foreign language) (people cheering) - [Narrator] Ma is the lead founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, which is the FinTech giant
Ant Group grew out of. Both companies have
redefined China's economy. But Ma directly challenged the people who oversee the country's
economy during this speech. (speaking in foreign language) - The speech really triggered
the central government, all the way up to President Xi Jinping. - [Narrator] So how did the
model of Chinese innovation and entrepreneurial success end up facing the ire of Beijing? We look at three of his public
appearances to find out. (dramatic music) - [Duncan] In the early
days, you knew Jack more because of his humor and his charisma than because for his company. - [Narrator] Duncan Clark first met Ma when Alibaba was set up in 1999 as a fledging e-commerce company. The internet consultant based in Beijing even wrote a book about this friend. - [Duncan] He had this sense that he was destined for great things. - [Narrator] Ma lived up
to his own expectations as his startup grew
into a tech powerhouse. And he rubbed shoulders
with global elites. - Few people could be a better example of the China dream. Jack Ma basically was the best PR for the Chinese government. - We just press by. - [Lingling] He wants
to make a difference, be it the advancement of
technology in China overall or geopolitical matters. - [Narrator] As Ma
became the friendly face of China's economic rise, he found himself more
involved in politics. - Business and political leaders would like to say that they knew Jack. When they visited China would, sometimes heads of state would
irritate the party actually by making appointments for Jack. - [Narrator] One of the
most talked about encounters was when Ma went to Trump Tower to meet the president elect, less than two weeks
before the inauguration. - High-quality man. Thank you, Jack. - [Lingling] The foreign minister was in dark about this meeting. They didn't know about it until after the meeting
was all over the news. - And we also think that
China-US relationship should be strengthened. - Some officials felt
like he should have stayed in his own lane, (bell ringing)
(people cheering) which is being a businessman, not crossing over to sensitive issues. - [Narrator] And this
wouldn't be the last time Ma crossed the line. (speaking in foreign language) - [Narrator] Since 2013, Ma
had been slowly signaling that he'd make his way out of Alibaba. - I can compete with the Bill
Gates who can retire earlier. - [Narrator] Then finally, in 2019, he officially stepped
down as executive chairman of the company at the age of 55. (speaking in foreign language) - [Lingling] It didn't
really come as a surprise to a lot of officials and some of them thought he's smart. He's basically wrapping up
a very successful career. ♪ And sit while with me ♪ - [Narrator] But Ma's retirement didn't mean he was going away from the public eye. He pursued philanthropic causes and became a judge on an
African reality television show, similar to "Shark Tank." - Let the competitors worry about you. - [Narrator] Ma also didn't fully leave the tech world after retirement. He remained the controlling
shareholder of Ant, which has changed the way
many people in China spend, borrow, save and invest. The company has also worked with and competed against state-owned banks and other financial institutions in China. - His company Ant has
been acting like a bank without being regulated as a bank. Ant has amassed a trove of consumer data. That data has allowed Ant Group to stay many, many steps ahead of traditional commercial lenders. - [Narrator] It was
very lucrative for Ant, so much so that the company landed in the crosshairs of Chinese regulators. - [Lingling] The central bank have wanted to tighten the screw over his companies for quite a long time. (speaking in foreign language) - [Lingling] But because
of his tremendous ability to combine his entrepreneur ambitions with his political savvy, he have been able to basically fend off that kind of pressure. - [Narrator] But the clash between Ma and financial regulators
all came to a head on October 24th last year. (speaking in foreign language) - [Duncan] On this occasion in Shanghai, what he was saying was directly
criticizing actually people in the room, which included
very senior figures in the Chinese government
in financial regulation. (speaking in foreign language) - The speech in Shanghai
was maybe a culmination of where we'd gone from total
humility in the early days to perhaps a touch of hubris. - [Narrator] Less than two
weeks after the speech, Chinese regulators took action. - Ultimately, it was President Xi who personally intervened in the matter, called off the Ant IPO and instructed financial regulators to do a thorough investigation into the risks posed
by Jack Ma's financial and technology empire. - [Narrator] Ant has
said it's moving quickly to try and address the
concerns of regulators. After the Shanghai speech,
Ma was nowhere to be seen. But three months later, he reappeared in a video that was posted to Chinese social media by a government-backed news
outlet called Tianmu News. It showed him addressing
village teachers in China. (speaking in foreign language) - Senior officials don't want
to send the wrong message to the Chinese entrepreneurs, okay, once you get big, this
is the consequence for you. The party leadership obviously want to have very firm control over the economy but another top priority for the central leadership
is to keep innovation going. That's a very big challenge
for China going forward. - [Narrator] And Alibaba and
Ant are still a major part of China's tech future but it's an open question
what that means for Jack Ma. - [Lingling] Is there a way
for him to redeem himself? The jury's definitely still out. (dramatic music)
