The turning point came in October 2020 at the Bund Financial Summit in Shanghai. Ma criticized China's financial regulations as outdated, effectively challenging the CCP's authority. This speech marked the beginning of Ma's downfall.
Shortly after, Ma disappeared from public view. The highly anticipated IPO of Ant Group, Alibaba's FinTech affiliate, was abruptly halted. Regulators began dismantling Ant piece by piece, forcing it to restructure and allow state-owned entities to take significant stakes.