#China : #Jack Ma, #China’s biggest e-commerce tycoon, wants to be a media mogul tooCINEMA-GOERS in the West are used to seeing majestic Leo, the roaring MGM lion, and comely Columbia, the torch-bearing maiden meant to embody the United States, at the beginning of films. The audience for “Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation”, the latest in a series of action pics starring Tom Cruise, saw something surprising. The opening titles of this blockbuster featured the logo of Alibaba Pictures, the film-making arm of China’s e-commerce goliath.
Jack Ma, Alibaba’s billionaire boss, wants to be a global media mogul. He is already one at home, thanks to a flurry of recent acquisitions (see table). His firm bought control of China Vision Media (renamed Alibaba Pictures), and has a stake in Huayi Brothers, another studio. It controls Youku Tudou, a leading online-video portal. Mr Ma has also put his own money into Wasu Media, a digital-media firm rumoured to have held talks with Netflix, which hopes to enter the China market.
Whereas Rupert Murdoch has separated his film and TV interests from his news outlets, Mr Ma is busy adding news businesses to his media empire. Alibaba has invested in a number of mainland publications, including the respected China Business News. Now it is in talks to buy the South China Morning Post, a 112-year-old English-language daily in Hong Kong. The paper, once owned by Mr Murdoch, is controlled by Robert Kuok, a Chinese-Malaysian billionaire who has been hugely successful doing business on the mainland.
Leave a Reply