Billionaire’s wife buys London mansion as soon as he reconciles with Chinese authorities
The family of Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has bought a £19.5 million London mansion amid a rapprochement with Chinese authorities after years of investigation and political exile.
Property records show Ma’s wife, Cathy Ying Zhang, acquired the six-bedroom Edwardian home, formerly the Italian Embassy, in London’s elite Belgravia district in October 2024.
The purchase follows Ma’s return to public life after disappearing from the scene following a speech criticizing China’s financial system. Sari Arho Havren, a China expert at the Royal United Services Institute, said it could be seen as “precautionary diversification” if Ma again provokes Beijing’s anger.
“Wealthy families are hedging the regime’s risk – one never knows when policies may turn counterproductive,” he said. “Affluent families are quietly diversifying. There’s still plenty of appeal in societies ruled by the rule of law.”
Ma, 61, is the founder of Alibaba Group, whose online commerce platform has earned him a fortune of about $30 billion. Belgravia House, the Ma family’s first known property in the UK, would have been financed by the sale of Alibaba shares in 2023, Hevren said.
Ma’s wife Zhang, who has taken up Singapore citizenship, is reportedly the sole director of an offshore company that Ma used to buy a castle and vineyards in France.
Last year it was reported that Zhang had spent up to $38 million on three commercial properties in Singapore. The buying spree is part of a trend that has seen major Chinese businessmen move money abroad out of fear of asset freezes or capital controls.
Many people have left China altogether. According to investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners, at least 13,800 “high-net-worth individuals” are expected to immigrate in 2024 – a 28 percent increase from 2022.
The sale of the Belgravia mansion, managed by Knight Frank and Beauchamp Estates and conducted by law firm Withers LLP, was preceded by an increase in the UK stamp duty surcharge for foreign buyers, according to a November 2024 report, which did not name the buyer.
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The main reception room of the Lygon Place property acquired by the Ma family in 2024 (Beauchamp Estates) -
Cinema room at the Lygon Place property acquired by the Ma family (Beauchamp Estates)
Beauchamp and Knight Frank declined to comment. Zhang and Ma Withers did not respond to questions put through Withers.
In 2015, it was reported that the Ma family purchased ‘Asia’s most expensive home’ in Victoria Peak, Hong Kong, which was previously owned by the Belgian government. That same year, it was reported that Ma had purchased a 28,000-acre estate in upstate New York for $23 million.
Ma disappeared from public view in late 2020 after criticizing China’s financial regulators. Beijing reportedly fined them nearly $3 billion and blocked stock market listings by Ant Group, a branch of Alibaba.
He re-emerged in China in 2023 after an apparent rapprochement with President Xi Jinping’s administration, occasionally attending public events. In February 2025, he was seen shaking hands with Xi at an event with Chinese industry leaders. However, Ma’s public comments were not reported by official state media, leading analysts to suggest that he had not been “fully rehabilitated”.
In April, The Guardian reported that Chinese authorities had enlisted Ma as part of a campaign to pressure him to return to China from France to help prosecute a dissident businessman who angered the regime.
“He said I’m the only person who can convince you to return,” Ma reportedly told the unidentified businessman in a telephone call. The Chinese government described the allegations as “pure fabrications”.
Main image: Beauchamp Estates