Jack Ma doubles Alibaba's position

Tsai bought about $151 million worth of U.S.-traded shares of Alibaba in the fourth quarter. through his family investment vehicle Blue Pool Management, a securities registration confirmed on Tuesday. Ma, who stepped down as the company's executive chairman in 2019 but remains a major shareholder, bought $50 million worth of Hong Kong-traded shares in the quarter, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. (Both men already own significant amounts of Alibaba stock.)

The size of the purchases isn't huge (Alibaba's market cap is about $171 billion), but given who's buying, they're likely to be closely watched by investors and policymakers. Alibaba itself bought back $9.5 billion worth of shares last year, causing the number of shares to drop by more than 3 percent.

Alibaba has had a tough time in recent years. The company and Ant were among the first to be hit by a broader crackdown on the tech industry, which was largely wiped out $1.1 trillion in market capitalization of the sector. In 2020, Ant was forced to call off its potentially record-breaking initial public offering, a stunning move that was widely interpreted as a sign that regulators were reasserting dominance over private companies. Chinese officials later imposed a $2.8 billion antitrust fine on Alibaba.

Last year, Alibaba canceled efforts to spin off its cloud business, a key part of the company's ambitious plan to renew itself, leading to a sharp sell-off in its shares. Executives blamed U.S. efforts to limit semiconductor sales to China, though analysts say the cloud sector has also lost market share to state-backed rivals.

The stock purchases are likely to focus attention back on Ma, a former English teacher who helped build Alibaba as an e-commerce platform. He was celebrated in China as an icon of entrepreneurship, but Beijing turned on him for criticizing official policies. Ma, who has not held a management role at Alibaba or Ant for years, but remains a lifelong partner in the Alibaba Partnership, now focuses largely on Bill Gates-style philanthropy.

Tsai, on the other hand, has maintained a high profile. He is a former corporate lawyer who also helped found Alibaba and owns the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and the WNBA's New York Liberty.

For those tracking Ma down, he has been seen To attend a Nets game in Paris this month and was seen sitting next to Tsai and Tsai's wife, dressed in — what else? – a Nets jersey and cap.

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING

The New Hampshire primary goes to the polls. Nikki Haley won a narrow victory just after midnight, capturing all six votes in the town of Dixville Notch, but there is a good chance she will defeat the rising Donald Trump. The former president's rise is driving some Wall Street CEOs question the wisdom of publicly opposing him.

The Fed's inspector general has cleared two former officials of improper trading. A report from the internal watchdog said that Eric Rosengren, the former president of the Boston Fed, and Robert Kaplan, the former chief of the Dallas Fed, has not broken any laws or regulations with the trades they made in 2020, when the central bank tried to support markets during the coronavirus pandemic. But Kaplan and Rosengren, who both resigned in 2021, failed to properly file disclosure forms and created the appearance of a conflict, the report found.

Archer-Daniels-Midland shares are plummeting amid an accounting investigation. Shares of the agricultural giant fell Monday after the company fell a record 24 percent has suspended its financial directorVikram Luthar, and lowered his earnings forecast after receiving a document request from the SEC. The company is investigating accounting practices in its food unit.

The chairman of Netflix's film division is leaving. Scott Stuber, who made the streaming company a force in filmmaking by attracting directors like Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese and Jane Campion, is stepping down, the company said on the eve of the Academy Award nominations. Stuber often clashed with Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix. The appointment of Bela Bajaria as Chief Content Officer last year effectively created a management layer between Stuber and Sarandos.

The gap between polls and the economy

Stocks are at record levels, interest rates are expected to fall and jobs appear to be plentiful – but none of this strong economic data strengthens President Biden's standing with voters. Lots of polls find him on the back the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, in key states.

Now the White House is sending out the big guns to try to change the narrative.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is leaving for the Midwest this week to talk up Biden's economic performance, including the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. And she is expected to criticize Trump's economic record as president.

Yellen's visit comes after a high-profile speech on Monday by Lael Brainard, the president's top economic adviser, who offered a rosy picture of how the administration's policies have created jobs in underserved communities.

Americans Are a better feeling about the economy. But that improved atmosphere has risen from a low in the summer of 2022, when inflation rose to a 40-year high. Prices have fallen in recent months, but economists warn they could rise again. a biggest concern: Houthi militia attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea are driving up shipping costs, potentially making goods and fuel more expensive.

The stronger data does not translate into more support for Biden. Voters may overlook job growth and pay little attention to that of the U.S. economy growth compared to its largest trading partners. Instead, they will likely focus on what they see in the store aisles. “The fact that the price level is higher than when Biden took office is what voters are picking up on,” Ray Fair, an economist at Yale, told The Times.

Fair has been tracking how economic data influences voter behavior for years. Despite the recent uptick in consumer confidence, his latest model suggested Democrats had a 50-50 chance of retaking the White House, and a similar chance of winning back the House of Representatives. (These odds are slightly better than what the polls say.)

---

“In a way it's a barometer of how he's doing in the race.”

— Kristi Marvin, the founder of the research firm SPACInsider, on the rising stock price of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, the cash-rich shell company that plans to merge with Donald Trump's social media platform. Shares in Digital World have more than doubled since Trump won the Iowa caucuses on January 15.

---

Companies are silent on reproductive rights

Abortion is expected to be a hot topic this year, the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, with both Democrats and Republicans planning to use the issue to gain support during the election campaign.

But despite the noise – or perhaps because of it – don't expect companies to speak out on the issue like they used to, experts say.

Companies have addressed abortion as an issue in 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. As several states began enacting abortion restrictions after the decision, hundreds of companies spoke out with many in support of continued access promise additional benefits for workers facing new restrictions.

Behind such moves was the belief that abortion restrictions are bad for business. That position received support from a recent analysis from the Institute for Women's Policy Research, which found that such restrictions cost the U.S. an average of $173 billion per year in reduced female labor force participation and earnings in the private sector, as well as increased turnover and furloughs. That's up from $146 billion in 2020.

Businesses became increasingly quiet last year on the issueand many have opposed it shareholder proposals on abortion.

One exception: About 50 companies joined a friend-of-the-court lawsuit in November in a Texas dispute arguing that restrictions on reproductive rights were prohibited. “bad for business” by harming efforts to recruit top talent and protect workers' health.

It is part of a broader corporate pushback on public statements. according to Judy Samuelson, the founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program.

Speaking out has become increasingly risky as conservative politicians target corporations for their positions on environmental, social and other cultural issues. (See, for example, Disney and its fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.)

But Samuelson claimed that companies are working on the issue internally. While much of the work is less busy, they continue to support measures including: improved reproductive access healthcare.

READING THE SPEED

Offers

• Amer Sportsthe owner of sports brands including Wilson and Arc'teryx, hopes to raise as much as $1.8 billion in its IPO and achieve a valuation of up to $8.7 billion (Reuters)

• Fossil fuel distributor Sunoco agreed Buy NuStar Energy approximately $7.3 billion in inventory to expand into storage and pipeline operations. (WSJ)

• Banks such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are reportedly trying to do this win back loan customers from private credit rivals. (Bloomberg)

Policy

The best of the rest

• Two younger sons of Bernard Arnaultthe head of LVMH, will reportedly be appointed to the luxury conglomerate's board of directors, raising questions about who will succeed him as CEO (Bloomberg)

• “The Questionable Climate Gains of Land Turning in a carbon sink” (FT)

• After visiting Auschwitz, Elon Musk said he had been “naive” about the dangers of anti-Jewish sentiment, but added that he had so many Jewish friends that he was “Jewish by association.” (NYT)

We want your feedback! Send your ideas and suggestions by email to dealbook@nytimes.com.