UK cathedral ceremony honours SCMP's Hu

While reports were emerging that Alibaba boss Jack Ma was negotiating a stake in the South China Morning Post, its chief executive Robin Hue was being honoured by his old university.

Hu, who gained a BSc in mathematics at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK, received an honorary doctorate for his contribution to business and communications at a ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral on November 20.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg has reported that negotiations between Alibaba and Hong Kong-based SCMP are "at an advanced stage". the publisher says SCMP's valuation of around HK$3 billion (US$390 million) would be "chump change" for a man worth $29.7 billion with a business valued at almost $200 billion.

Robin Hu went on to gain an MSc in computer science from the University of Wales, before taking a variety of management positions with Singapore's Economic Development Board, Singapore Telecom and internet start-up Asiacontent.com. Born in Taiwan, he had moved with his family to Singapore when he was 12-years-old.

He was appointed chief executive of the SCMP Group in 2012, having previously held senior management positions with Singapore Press Holdings.

At SCMP, he has led its transformation into the digital age and diversification into a variety of non publishing segments including property. Most recently the group bought e-commerce business MyDress.com.

Pictured: Robin Hu at Publish Asia last year