Is Zhao Wei Blacklisted Because of Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma?

Speculation continues to grow after Vicki Zhao Wei (趙薇) was blacklisted from China’s Internet servers. Although some netizens speculated that the actress was banned for wearing a dress with the Japanese war flag in an old fashion shoot, others suspect that Zhao Wei is involved in a larger controversy that may be linked with the Chinese government crackdown on Alibaba Group’s founder, Jack Ma (馬雲).

As one of China’s most prominent business magnates, Jack has also disappeared from the public eyes since last year. Many news media reported that Jack is laying low following his public criticism of China’s financial and bank regulatory systems.

Some netizens suspect Jack’s controversy may have contributed to Zhao Wei’s censorship because of the two’s close business ties and personal relationship. In 2014, Zhao Wei and her husband Huang Youlong (黃有龍) reportedly paid $3.1 billion Hong Kong dollars to acquire 9.18 percent stake in Alibaba Pictures Group which makes them the second-largest shareholder of the company. The following year, Alibaba Pictures’ stock prices surged and the couple made an unrealized gain of HK $4.4 billion. Over the next few years, the couple reduced their stake in Alibaba Pictures and cashed out more than HK $2.2 billion.

The couple allegedly continued to have close financial ties with Jack and in 2015, he helped Zhao Wei invest in the Yunfeng Financial Group which rose more than 150 percent in one month. Last year, Zhao Wei reportedly used her mother’s name to purchase a HK $600 million stake in Ant Group, a financial services subsidiary of Alibaba Group.

Beyond business, Zhao Wei has once publicly shared that she has a close relationship with Jack. However, Jack tried to downplay their relationship and insisted that they only saw each other a handful of times. In spite of Jack’s inconsistencies against Zhao Wei’s words, the two appeared to be close as Jack reportedly attended Zhao Wei’s classmate’s reunion party and he was also invited to Huang Youlong’s father’s birthday party.

There have been many allegations that Jack assisted Zhao Wei in growing her net worth to HK $5.4 billion and helped the actress in being ranked 912^th on Hurun’s list of the world’s youngest billionaires in 2019. Taking a look at the couple’s financial portfolio, Zhao Wei and her husband manage at least 69 companies that range from film and television production, real estate, arts and restaurants.

Tracking Zhao Wei’s Whereabout

In the absence of any official explanation for the actress’ sudden censorship, there has been rumor that Zhao Wei has either flown to France in a private plane or she is currently hiding from the public.

On August 29, Zhao Wei attempted to dispel the rumors and communicate with her fans by posting several pictures on her Instagram. However, the posts drew widespread attention and they were later deleted.

Source: On CC

This article is written by Sammi for JayneStars.com.