Jack Ma dared concerned agencies to file a lawsuit against Alibaba. (Photo : Getty Images)
The White House promised that nothing shady happened when United States President Barack Obama secretly had lunch with China’s second richest man, Jack Ma.
A report from the Washington Post revealed how the Alibaba founder and one of the most influential men in China snuck into the White House on Tuesday without anyone noticing.
Reporters were only able to realize that Ma was in the building when he was just about to leave the grounds with a couple of aides and bodyguards.
"Very good," was all he said when he climbed onto the back seat of his black sedan near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Reason for the Visit
According to Next Shark, the meeting between the Chinese businessman and the president "was so secret" that it was not included in Obama's public schedule.
While Ma refused to comment as to why he was in the area when reporters caught up to him, the White House promised that there was nothing "shady" about his meeting with Obama.
According to AOL, the White House explained that Ma and Obama had "a number of common interests" that included the international economy and climate change, which probably were the topics during Tuesday's secret lunch.
Washington had not released any official statement or details regarding the meeting.
However, AOL believes that the lunch was a response to Obama's invitation to Ma last year, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting held in Malaysia, where he told the Chinese billionaire to drop by the White House if he was ever in town.
At the time, Obama interviewed China's second wealthiest man in front of an audience composed of business executives from the Asia-Pacific region.
APEC Interview
Last year, Obama and the Alibaba founder shared the stage at the APEC CEO Summit in Malaysia, where they talked about international issues such as climate change.
According to Fortune, Ma talked to Obama about how he diverted 0.3 percentage points of revenues for youth programs that could focus on the environment and even relayed to him a moment when he almost drowned when he was 12 years old.
"Jack, you have the benefit of being on both sides the equation: early entrepreneur, scratching and clawing to get things done and now a very successful businessman," Obama said, asking the billionaire how the government and bigger firms can aid people like him.
Taking the pitch, Ma answered: "Yeah, government is simple. Just reduce the tax, or no tax for these guys."
