Jack Ma, Chinese tech billionaire and the founder of Alibaba Group, is missing from the public eye for over two months. This came after he had a conflict with Chinese President Xi Jinping-led Central Communist Party government.
According to a report by The Telegraph, UK, the billionaire was set to appear as a judge in the final episode of his own talent show, ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’ but mysteriously did not turn up for it and as a consequence, his photographs were removed from the show’s website.
Jack Ma’s location have come under questioning at a time when his two companies - Alibaba and Ant Group have progressively come under scrutiny in China. Two companies, founded by Ma, are currently faced with an antitrust investigation for alleged monopolistic practices.
Ma’s, Ant Group, has been under scrutiny by Beijing ever since Ma gave a controversial speech in Shanghai in October 2019 that criticised China’s regulation system for roasting innovation and likened global banking rules to an “old people’s club”. Chinese officials threw an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba in late December and told other company to restructure its operations.
Ant recently said in a statement that it will build a special team to make proposals and a timetable for an overhaul. Also, Alibaba and a company spun off by Tencent Holding Ltd were fined in December for failing to apply for official nod before proceeding with some acquisitions.
