Why Jack Ma, Wang Jianlin went from foes to allies

Jack Ma and Wang Jianlin have traded many barbs over the years. The charismatic boss of Alibaba once boldly predicted that the rise of e-commerce would eventually destroy China's traditional retailers like those that rent mall space from Wang if the industry failed to change.

In a 2012, Ma made a televised, courageous bet with Wang, boss of China’s largest shopping mall builder Dalian Wanda Group, on the future of retailing in China. The war of words between the two powerful tycoons escalated into a Rmb100 million $15.8 million gamble the sum Ma staked on his prediction that online sales would represent half of China's total retail spending by...