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Jack Ma has resurfaced after months out of the public eye, fueling intense speculation about the plight of the billionaire facing increasing scrutiny of his internet empire.
China’s most recognizable businessman addressed teachers via live broadcast Wednesday during an annual event he organizes to recognize rural educators, according to people familiar with the matter. In a video of the event that was circulated online, Ma spoke about how she will spend more time on philanthropy. The Alibaba and Ant co-founder did not mention his recent clashes with Beijing during his speech, which was first reported on a local blog. Ant confirmed the authenticity of the video in an email.
Alibaba shares gained more than 4% in Hong Kong. While it is not yet clear where Ma is, his appearance in a public forum may help quell lingering rumors about his fate as Beijing conducts investigations into the online finance titan. Ant Group Co. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The executive had been kept out of the public eye since early November, when Chinese regulators torpedoed Ant’s $ 35 billion IPO, tightened fintech regulations, then ordered a review of Ant and They launched a separate antitrust investigation on Alibaba, all in a span of days.
“Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a stronger resolution to dedicate ourselves to educational philanthropy, ”Ma said in the video. “Working hard for rural revitalization and common prosperity is the responsibility of our generation of entrepreneurs.”
Read more: Jack Ma shuts up after Ant Group’s spectacular destruction
The assault on Ma’s trillion-dollar corporate empire encapsulates a broader campaign to curb a generation of Chinese tech giants that Beijing now sees as wielding too much control over the world’s second largest economy. The flurry of actions against its sister companies revealed how Beijing has lost patience with the enormous power of its tech moguls, now perceived as a threat to the political and financial stability that President Xi Jinping values most.
The government has increasingly sought to influence the increasing degree to which business enterprises Tencent Holdings Ltd. a ByteDance Ltd. accumulates data and direct trade and media. The same month that Ant canceled its record IPO, the country’s top antitrust watchdog released new guidelines warning tech giants against monopolistic practices, from forced exclusive deals to data collusion. While Ant and Alibaba have suffered the brunt of that assault since November, investors have since sold their Tencent peers to Meituan.
Ma’s position with Beijing remains unclear. In early December, the government advised the man most identified with the meteoric rise of China Inc. to stay in the country, a person familiar with the matter said. The debate over his whereabouts arose because Beijing has quietly detained billionaires who have broken the law in the past, without immediate trial.
Read more: The world’s rich fled Alibaba after monopoly probe, says Citi
(Updates with comments from the second paragraph speech)
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