I want to underline and stress that Alibaba is in uncharted territory. While I am optimistic that Alibaba will eventually make the case that Ma has moved on and is no longer an executive at the company, Alibaba is dealing with an autocratic government which has been offended by Ma's comments in a speech he gave in October.  It is tough to know how "offended" Xi Jinpin is and how far he intends to take his case agaisnt Ma and by extension, the companies where the majority if his weath is derived from.