After weeks of speculations, Jack Ma Finally resurfaces – Top Tech News
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After weeks of speculations, Jack Ma Finally resurfaces
After being out of the public glare for almost a month, Alibaba’s founder & CEO Jack Ma finally resurfaced on Wednesday. China’s most famous entrepreneur & billionaire made an appearance on Wednesday in a live streaming event that was addressed to rural teachers & educators. Ma’s sudden disappearance came in the backdrop of Chinese government’s increasing crackdown on his financial empire Ant Group. By the way, Ma’s sudden re-appearance had a positive impact on Alibaba’s stock, with the stock climbing 4% in Hong Kong.
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Canadian story-telling platform Wattpad is getting acquired for a half billion dollar
South-Korean search engine giant Naver is acquiring Toronto based story telling platform Wattpad for approximately $600Mn. The acquisition will be reportedly carried out through cash & stock transaction. Wattpad essentially provides stories written by aspirational writers through its flagship app. The app claims that its community caters to 93 Mn people globally who spend over 23 Bn hours every month.
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Microsoft chips in $2Bn in General Motors self-driving subsidiary Cruise
Microsoft enters self-driving Car race as the software giant pumps $2 Bn equity investment in General Motors self-driving subsidiary Cruise. The equity investment is a part of collaboration between Microsoft and General Motors where the latter will get to use Microsoft’s cloud computing platform Azure. Microsoft, on other hand, will look to leverage this collaboration to increase its penetration in the transportation industry. This is Microsoft’s maiden partnership with a self-driving company.
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Netflix had a blockbuster 2020, thanks to pandemic
The pandemic effect was all too visible in Netflix’s latest quarterly results. The streaming giant has beaten and surpassed all the market estimation numbers on all fronts. Following are the numbers: Q4 revenue stood at $6.64 Bn vs $6.63Bn, global streaming paid membership 203.7 Mn (up 8.5 Mn vs 6.5 Mn market estimation).
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Douyin, Chinese TikTok competitor, has just launched payment e-wallet
China’s burgeoning digital payment market, which has long been dominated by Tencent’s WeChat Pay & Alibaba’s Alipay, has now got a new competitor. Douyin Pay, is a new app launched by China’s TikTok competitor Douyin. Payment business is a logical step for Douyin, which also operates a thriving e-commerce business. Douyin’s enter into the payment biz has come at a time when Chinese government is cracking down on Jack Ma’s financial empire Alipay.