Where’s Jack Ma? Tech entrepreneur goes into hiding after criticism of China

Where’s Jack Ma? Chinese tech entrepreneur goes underground (after criticizing the regime)

The charismatic founder of the company seems to have disappeared. Or has China’s leadership gagged the Yangtze River crocodile?

On the internet, speculation about Jack Ma is increasing because the tech entrepreneur no longer appears in public.

Jack Ma, 56, the founder of Alibaba, is one of the richest men on the planet. The Chinese tech entrepreneur has also gained a huge following in the West with his charisma and lively appearances. Ma was also a welcome guest at the WEF in Davos. But now it becomes scarce, or has it been withdrawn from circulation?

In any case, the founder of Alibaba did not appear as planned in the latest episode of his own talent show “Africa’s Business Heroes”, in which budding young African entrepreneurs competed for a million dollar injection of money.

Ma was supposed to be a member of the jury, but was replaced by an Alibaba manager in the final, the British Telegraph reported. His photo was removed from the website.

According to the Financial Times, an Alibaba spokesman said Ma was unable to attend due to a “scheduling conflict.”

Rereading the stories about Jack Ma’s alleged disappearance, he was not sure if he was really missing, renowned American economist Jack Stoller commented via Twitter. He suspects that Ma may have withdrawn from the public eye “for political reasons.”

The fact is that Ma was subpoenaed by the Chinese authorities late last year.

His business empire, the Ant Group, has been closely monitored by Beijing, at least since he gave a speech in Shanghai on October 24 in which he criticized China’s regulatory system for “hindering innovation.” The businessman also called for global financial reforms.

In his widely acclaimed speech, Ma accused Chinese leaders of using a “pawn shop mentality” to prevent little ones from having access to cheap loans.

Increasing pressure from the Chinese authorities

In December 2020, China’s state media reported that authorities were opening an investigation into Alibaba for possible violations of competition law.

The group was “suspected of monopolistic practices,” the government said. The competent authority also reportedly wanted to “hold talks” with Ant, Alibaba’s financial arm, as part of its oversight.

In early November, Ant surprisingly canceled its initial public offering. The background for this was pressure from the Chinese regulatory authorities. With a volume equivalent to almost 30 billion Swiss francs, Ant’s IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong should be the largest of all time.

Ant is part of Alipay, China’s leading online payment service. Before the IPO was canceled, Alipay was criticized by the state-controlled banking sector.

According to independent international observers, the Chinese government is likely to view Ma’s business empire as too great an overall risk to the financial system.

Has the Yangtze crocodile, nicknamed Jack Ma, been muzzled? Jack Ma’s latest tweet dated at least as of October 10, 2020. With each additional day that remains silent, speculation increases.

puff up

With material from the SDA news agency

(dsc)