The internet is grappling with a burning question: Where is businessman Jack Ma? Speculation about the Chinese billionaire’s disappearance came after reports that he was not appearing to the public for more than two months spread, according to a report by Business Insider.
The Alibaba founder was scheduled to appear in the filming of the final episode of his own talent show Africa’s Business Heroes, where he was supposed to participate as a judge, but was later replaced by another Alibaba executive, according to Yahoo Finance citing a reports from news in the UK Telegraph.
A company spokesperson said the tech mogul was unable to join the adjudication panel due to a schedule conflict, the Financial Times reported.
Read also | China targets Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, orders investigation for ‘monopolistic practices’
Speculation about Jack Ma’s disappearance comes after China’s antitrust investigation into Alibaba and Ant Group. The antitrust investigation into the former schoolteacher’s e-commerce empire alleging monopolistic practices came after China drastically suspended Ant Group’s $ 37 billion initial public offering (IPO), which was on its way to becoming a of the world’s largest IPOs. The IPO was halted just 48 hours before its double listing on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.
Ant Group also came under heavy scrutiny from the Chinese government after Jack Ma’s speech criticizing the country’s regulatory system and calling banks “pawn shops.”
“Today’s financial system is the legacy of the industrial age,” Ma added, “We must establish a new one for the next generation and the young. We must reform the current system, ”Yahoo Finance reported.
Jack Ma has lost about $ 11 billion in the past three months, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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