Adding to Beijing’s resolve is the Chinese public’s growing concern over rising inequality. At a major speech on his economic plans in October, President Xi Jinping acknowledged that the country’s development was “unbalanced” and said “common prosperity” should be the ultimate goal.
The upshot is a new era for the country’s billionaires and the investors who back them. Gone are the days when tycoons like Ma could confidently bend the rules to supercharge their companies’ growth and challenge entrenched interests like state-owned banks. Outsized public personas — long seen as an asset for tech-company founders — now look like a liability. The new playbook for China’s ultra-rich calls for more deference to the Communist Party, more charitable donations and more focus on the wellbeing of rank-and-file employees, even if it hurts the bottom line.