Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger applauded the Chinese government in a recent interview for silencing Alibaba's Jack Ma, adding that he wished United States financial regulators were more like China.
"Communists did the right thing," the 97-year-old Munger said, according to CNN. Munger's comments referenced Ma, who in November of 2020 went missing after criticizing Beijing officials for stifling innovation.
Since Ma's comments, he has been largely out of the public eye. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has placed new restrictions on Alibaba's affiliate Ant Financial, forcing it to delay its long-awaited initial public offering.
Munger stated China "just called in Jack Ma" and told him, "you aren't gonna do it, sonny."
"They said, 'To hell with you,'" Munger added. The Berkshire vice chairman also said that Ma was looking to "wade into banking ... and just do whatever he pleased."
Munger added that parts of the way China runs its country were appealing but stated he would not want "all of the Chinese system" in the U.S. He did say, however, "I certainly would like to have the financial part of it in my own country."
Munger, in another interview, launched more criticisms at the U.S., saying, "our own wonderful free enterprise economy is letting all these crazy people go to this gross excess," while the Chinese "step in preemptively to stop speculation."
In May, during Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting, Munger said that, "the Chinese government will allow businesses to flourish," adding that China has "lifted 800 million people out of poverty fast. And there was never anything like it in the history of the world ... So my hat is off to the Chinese."
"And I think they will continue to allow people to make money. They've learned it works."
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