After speculations of Jack Ma being missing, the billionaire turned out to not be reported missing, according to a person familiar with the matter. Ma was said to have been lying low for the time being.
According to sources inside Alibaba, Ma is "not missing or detained" after calling for a Chinese economic reform during a speech in October 2020.
Jack Ma Not Missing But Lying Low
One of China's richest men and the founder of e-commerce company Alibaba, he was suspected missing due to the fact he has not made a public appearance in over two months.
According to Ma on October 24, 2020, in Shanghai, "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.
Ma reportedly speaks his mind and pushes boundaries. This attitude made the businessman prominent within and beyond his home country.
His company giant Alibaba is Asia's version of Amazon, reported Daily Mail.
As among the most successful and outspoken Chinese tycoons, Ma denounced the nation's "pawnshop" financial regulators and state-owned banks in the searing speech in Shanghai in October.
He pleaded for reform of a system that suppressed business innovation and compared worldwide banking regulations to an "old people's club."
According to CNBC anchor David Faber, "He is very likely in Hangzhou, where the headquarters of Alibaba is," reported Money Control.
"He is being less visible purposefully. And you can expect that that will continue to be the case for some time. He ran afoul of the government of the PRC (People's Republic of China). He has pushed on that line a number of times in the past and been okay."
Alibaba rose 5% on Tuesday following Faber's report that its billionaire founder Jack Ma is merely lying low. Alibaba fell 3% on Monday after reports indicated Ma had not been present in public for over two months and missed a previously scheduled appearance on a business contest television show he was slated to serve as a judge.
Faber further divulged that Ma had not been held captive, has not been taken, and there is no expectation that the government will move on him.
Speculation regarding the Chinese tycoon's whereabouts amplified when Ma failed to make a public appearance as a judge in the final episode of his own show, "Africa's Business Heroes," which is a TV competition for budding entrepreneurs.
Shortly after Ma's speech, Ant Group witnessed its record-setting initial public offering suspended by stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. He and two Ant Group executives were summoned and interviewed by Chinese supervisors, the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan was present during Ma's speech at a Shanghai business conference.
Alibaba and Ant Group, the financial services company he spun off of Alibaba, came under the searing of the China government following his speech.
It reportedly appears that his business empire and himself are at enormous risk.
