Jack Ma, the poster boy of China's tech scene, is moving into the food business
- Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma just set up a new company called "Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food," per media reports.
- It's involved in sales of pre-packaged food and the processing and retail of agricultural products, per SCMP.
For years, Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma has been the poster boy for China's tech industry — but it looks like he's moving on to the food business.
On Wednesday, Ma incorporated a company called "Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food" in the city where Alibaba is based, according to media reports. Hangzhou is also Ma's hometown.
The company's registered capital is 10 million Chinese yuan, or $1.4 million, Alibaba-owned South China Morning Post reported, citing the official National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, a corporate registry.
Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food is wholly owned by Ma's investment vehicle, Hangzhou Dajingtou. No 22 Arts and Culture. The company is involved in the sales of pre-packaged food and the processing and retail of agricultural products, per SCMP.
Ma's interest in agriculture appears to have taken off in the wake of the government's crackdown on his businesses, which started in 2020 after he angered Beijing with a critical speech about China's financial-regulatory system.
The tech titan — who's known for his outspoken and flamboyant personality — vanished from public view for two years after the crackdown. His personal wealth also tanked, and his companies lost hundreds of billions of dollars. He's kept a low profile ever since, making only rare public appearances.
Instead, over the last few years, he has been traveling the world while studying agrotech.
In October 2021, Ma was in Spain learning about agriculture and technology related to environmental issues. He has also traveled to the Netherlands, Japan, and Thailand to study agrotech.
In May, Tokyo College announced that Ma would be taking up a teaching position while researching sustainable agriculture and food production.
In January, he was in Thailand, where he dined with Supakit Chearavanont, the chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, a major animal feed producer.
Ma retired from Alibaba in 2019. His foundation, the Jack Ma Foundation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Correction: November 27, 2023 — An earlier version of this story stated that the registered capital of Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food is 10 million Chinese yuan, or $1.4 billion. It is $1.4 million, not $1.4 billion.