Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba and one of China's billionaires, is suspected missing because he has not made a public appearance in over two months. His disappearance comes after he called for economic reform in a speech delivered in Shanghai on October 24.
Jack Ma's Disappearance
According to Ma, "Today's financial system is the legacy of the Industrial Age. We must set up a new one for the next generation and young people. We must reform the current system," reported Fox Business.
Once the model for a new batch of multi-billionaire Chinese tech and business leaders, the Alibaba founder's fortunes have taken a severe dip in the previous three months.
Since his disputed October speech in China wherein he lamented the nation's financial regulatory system and called for it to be reformed, Ma has been facing a surge of actions from Chinese authorities, reported Independent.
Ma also failed to be present as scheduled in the final episode of his own talent show, "Africa's Business Heroes," which provides budding African entrepreneurs the opportunity to compete for a slice of $1.5 million.
Ma was supposedly a judge but was replaced by an Alibaba executive in the November final, reported Yahoo News.
According to the company's spokesman, Ma could not make it due to his tight schedule.
Ma's removal from the event's webpage and the promotional video for the event, which aired without Ma, concerned many. The deepening mystery surrounding his disappearance comes at a time when China authorities have increased scrutiny of his business empire, including Ant Group, after Ma denounced China's regulation system in October 2020.
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Ma was in contention with the President Xi Jinping-led Central Communist Party government. Ma condemned China's "pawnshop" financial regulators and state-owned banks in the searing speech in Shanghai. Both Alibaba and Ant Group came under the scrutiny of the country's government following Ma's speech. Alibaba is fazed with an antitrust probing initiated in December. Meanwhile, Ant Group's IPO was suspended, and the business was ordered to reorganize.
Ant's IPO valued at almost $37 billion, was suspended due to "significant issues," according to reports.
Discussions and speculations regarding the Alibaba founder's whereabouts circulated on social media on Monday, with #JackMa and #Alibaba becoming trending topics on Twitter. His last tweet on the social media platform was in October 2020.
Ma's fortune is surmised to be at $58.4 billion. He committed millions of dollars to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spring, he stated that he would offer $14.4 million from his foundation toward supporting the vaccine development for the novel coronavirus in Wuhan.
Since his speech, he has faced multiple business setbacks, involving one block on his plans for a stellar listing on the stock market. Such actions left the market dubious of his firms.
Ma, 56, was born in Hangzhou in eastern China. He came from a poor family and was once taught English. Upon purchasing his first computer at 33 years old, he rose in the last two decades to become a shining star of China's booming economy through his e-commerce giant Alibaba's triumph.
