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The disappearance from public life of Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, including the fact that he did not appear on the latest episode of a TV show he was a jury on, fuels speculation about the billionaire’s fate. . In addition, Chinese authorities have targeted his business, Reuters reports, according to Agerpres.
The famous Chinese businessman last appeared in public at a forum in Shanghai in late October, when he criticized the Chinese regulatory system, in a speech that confronted him with Chinese officials. The result was the suspension of the initial public listing procedure for Ant Group, one of Alibaba’s divisions, valued at $ 37 billion.
The Financial Times claims that Jack Ma was replaced by someone else as a member of the jury for the final episode of a television show for entrepreneurs called Africa’s Business Heroes. In response, an Alibaba spokesperson said Monday that Jack Ma’s replacement was due to the contractor’s busy schedule, but did not provide details.
Jack Ma’s absence from public life is the subject of speculation on Twitter, a social network that is blocked in China but is not among the hot topics on social media in mainland China, where sensitive topics are often censored.
Chinese regulators have targeted Jack Ma’s business after his October speech, launching an antitrust investigation into Alibaba, while the Ant Group division was ordered to separate its loan operations from its online payments division.
“I think they told him to be more discreet. This is quite a unique situation, related to the size of the Ant Group and the sensitivities related to financial regulation,” said Duncan Clark, president of consultancy BDA China.
In China, Alibaba’s main e-commerce platform competes with companies like JD.com Inc. and Pinduoduo Inc.
Last year, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd posted record sales of around 372.3 billion yuan ($ 56.4 billion) in the first half hour of Singles’ Day, the world’s largest online shopping event. .
Publisher: BP
