The $16b Aussie tech firm in a slanging match over its China links

September 23, 2026 — 3:14pm

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Jack Zhang, the co-founder and chief executive of Australian-born payments company Airwallex, once claimed to have worked 100 hours a week for the past 20 years. These days, some of that time appears to be dedicated to playing keyboard warrior, with Zhang embroiled in increasingly intemperate online sparring over the company’s links to China.

The source of Zhang’s online animus is Keith Rabois, the Trump-aligned Silicon Valley venture capitalist who has repeatedly accused Airwallex of being vulnerable to legal obligations to assist with Chinese Communist Party espionage upon request, on the basis that it could be compelled to hand American users’ data to Beijing.

This week, Zhang accused Rabois (who is on the board of rival payments start-up Ramp) of “unhinged conspiratorial rants” on X. Rabois rather ominously warned that Zhang would be “pleading the fifth soon”, in a reference to the constitutional provision that protects people from self-incrimination. The Airwallex boss then responded with a Mad Men meme.

So far, so silly. But Rabois’ claims clearly continue to get under Airwallex’s skin.

Airwallex, which was founded 11 years ago in a Melbourne cafe, but is now domiciled in........

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