Alibaba founder Jack Ma has reportedly not made a public
appearance in at least two months after the Chinese billionaire
failed to turn up for the finale of an African talent show created
by him.
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
Jack Ma reportedly missing after criticising Chinese
goverment
Ma was one of the judges for “Africa’s Business Heroes”, a
television show created by Ma to give promising African
entrepreneurs a shot at winning US$1.5 million to create their own
business.
![image](/2020/10/NWLRland.jpg")
When Ma was replaced by an Alibaba executive for the show’s
finale in November 2020, a spokesperson for Alibaba told Financial
Times that the billionaire was unable to take part on the judging
panel “due to a scheduling conflict”.
His absence has led to speculation that he could have gone
missing.
His whereabouts is being questioned as his business empire, Ant
Group, has come under attack by the Chinese government after Ma
gave a speech in October challenging China’s regulation system.
Ant Group’s road to IPO listing cut short
Ant Group is an affiliate company of the Alibaba Group founded by
Ma, and owns China’s largest digital payment platform Alipay.
In October 2020, CNBC reported that Ant Group was set to become
the biggest IPO listing of all time.
It was projected to raise US$34.5 billion (S$45.41 billion)
after the company set its share price at 68.8 yuan (S$14.02)
each.
Based on the pricing, the company’s valuation would be at
US$313.37 billion.
Ant Group was expected to start trading in Hong Kong on Nov. 5,
2020, according to its regulatory filing, before the intervention
by Chinese regulators.
Ma criticised Chinese government
On Oct. 24, the businessman at a summit in Shanghai had criticised
global banking standards and said that the Chinese regulatory
system was stifling innovation and needed reforms to push for more
growth.
“There’s no systemic financial risks in China because there’s no
system in China,” Ma said.
Remarks by Ma sparked off events leading to suspension of Ant
Group’s IPO
The remark made by Ma is said to have triggered a series of events
that eventually led to the suspension of Ant Group’s IPO listing in
November 2020.
Sources close to Ma told Reuters that senior financial
regulatory officials were furious at Ma’s comments, one of them
describing the speech as a “punch in their faces”.
Before Ma’s speech, a senior regulatory source told Reuters that
Chinese regulators were already increasing their surveillance of
Ma’s business empire gradually.
The comment by Ma on Oct. 24 sparked off a series of
escalations, including senior political officials asking regulators
for a thorough review of Ant Group’s businesses.
Written instructions from officials including China’s Vice
Premier Liu He, Xi Jinping’s trusted economic advisor, were passed
down to regulators, who quickly moved to publish a consultation
paper to tighten rules for China’s micro-lending business, directly
impacting Ant Group.
The company’s IPO was suspended by the Shanghai Stock Exchange
less than two days before its listing, which could’ve added at
least US$27 billion to Ma’s net worth, according to Reuters.
Last tweet from October 2020
While Ma’s whereabouts are still unknown, his last tweet was on
Oct. 10, 2020.
On his Weibo page, his last post was on Oct. 17, 2020.
In August, Ma also tweeted about “Africa’s Business Heroes”,
mentioning that he “can’t wait to meet” the finalists from the
show.
In 2019, finalists of the show pitched their ideas directly to
Ma himself, competing for US$1 million in prize money.
Ma’s high profile internationally is owed to his many
initiatives, including creating the Jack Ma Foundation, which
donated tens of millions of masks globally during the Covid-19
pandemic.
Ma started off as an English teacher in Hangzhou in the early
days of his career, before slowly building his business empire from
scratch.
China’s tendency to clamp down on tycoons
While Ma’s international image has drawn a large fanbase globally,
his high profile could attract unwanted attention back at home.
Tycoons in China have long been watched closely by Chinese
authorities, with those stepping out of line risking their
businesses or face worse fates.
Chinese billionaire Ren Zhiqiang was sentenced to 18 years in
prison and fined 4.2 million yuan (S$844,000) in September 2020
facing corruption charges.
Ren is a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),
referring to Xi as an “emperor” and a “clown” in an article
circulating on the Internet since March 2020.
Ill fate also befell the late Chinese billionaire Xu Ming, who
met his downfall in 2012 after his political patron Bo Xilai was
jailed for corruption and embezzlement.
Xu reportedly died of a heart attack in prison in 2015 at 44
years old, according to NY Times.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has reportedly not made a public
appearance in at least two months after the Chinese billionaire
failed to turn up for the finale of an African talent show created
by him.
Jack Ma reportedly missing after criticising Chinese
goverment
Ma was one of the judges for “Africa’s Business Heroes”, a
television show created by Ma to give promising African
entrepreneurs a shot at winning US$1.5 million to create their own
business.
When Ma was replaced by an Alibaba executive for the show’s
finale in November 2020, a spokesperson for Alibaba told Financial
Times that the billionaire was unable to take part on the judging
panel “due to a scheduling conflict”.
His absence has led to speculation that he could have gone
missing.
His whereabouts is being questioned as his business empire, Ant
Group, has come under attack by the Chinese government after Ma
gave a speech in October challenging China’s regulation system.
Ant Group’s road to IPO listing cut short
Ant Group is an affiliate company of the Alibaba Group founded by
Ma, and owns China’s largest digital payment platform Alipay.
In October 2020, CNBC reported that Ant Group was set to become
the biggest IPO listing of all time.
It was projected to raise US$34.5 billion (S$45.41 billion)
after the company set its share price at 68.8 yuan (S$14.02)
each.
Based on the pricing, the company’s valuation would be at
US$313.37 billion.
Ant Group was expected to start trading in Hong Kong on Nov. 5,
2020, according to its regulatory filing, before the intervention
by Chinese regulators.
Ma criticised Chinese government
On Oct. 24, the businessman at a summit in Shanghai had criticised
global banking standards and said that the Chinese regulatory
system was stifling innovation and needed reforms to push for more
growth.
“There’s no systemic financial risks in China because there’s no
system in China,” Ma said.
Remarks by Ma sparked off events leading to suspension of Ant
Group’s IPO
The remark made by Ma is said to have triggered a series of events
that eventually led to the suspension of Ant Group’s IPO listing in
November 2020.
Sources close to Ma told Reuters that senior financial
regulatory officials were furious at Ma’s comments, one of them
describing the speech as a “punch in their faces”.
Before Ma’s speech, a senior regulatory source told Reuters that
Chinese regulators were already increasing their surveillance of
Ma’s business empire gradually.
The comment by Ma on Oct. 24 sparked off a series of
escalations, including senior political officials asking regulators
for a thorough review of Ant Group’s businesses.
Written instructions from officials including China’s Vice
Premier Liu He, Xi Jinping’s trusted economic advisor, were passed
down to regulators, who quickly moved to publish a consultation
paper to tighten rules for China’s micro-lending business, directly
impacting Ant Group.
The company’s IPO was suspended by the Shanghai Stock Exchange
less than two days before its listing, which could’ve added at
least US$27 billion to Ma’s net worth, according to Reuters.
Last tweet from October 2020
While Ma’s whereabouts are still unknown, his last tweet was on
Oct. 10, 2020.
On his Weibo page, his last post was on Oct. 17, 2020.
In August, Ma also tweeted about “Africa’s Business Heroes”,
mentioning that he “can’t wait to meet” the finalists from the
show.
In 2019, finalists of the show pitched their ideas directly to
Ma himself, competing for US$1 million in prize money.
Ma’s high profile internationally is owed to his many
initiatives, including creating the Jack Ma Foundation, which
donated tens of millions of masks globally during the Covid-19
pandemic.
Ma started off as an English teacher in Hangzhou in the early
days of his career, before slowly building his business empire from
scratch.
China’s tendency to clamp down on tycoons
While Ma’s international image has drawn a large fanbase globally,
his high profile could attract unwanted attention back at home.
Tycoons in China have long been watched closely by Chinese
authorities, with those stepping out of line risking their
businesses or face worse fates.
Chinese billionaire Ren Zhiqiang was sentenced to 18 years in
prison and fined 4.2 million yuan (S$844,000) in September 2020
facing corruption charges.
Ren is a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),
referring to Xi as an “emperor” and a “clown” in an article
circulating on the Internet since March 2020.
Ill fate also befell the late Chinese billionaire Xu Ming, who
met his downfall in 2012 after his political patron Bo Xilai was
jailed for corruption and embezzlement.
Xu reportedly died of a heart attack in prison in 2015 at 44
years old, according to NY Times.