Alibaba founder Jack Ma is not missing, he is rather ”laying low” for the time being after his comments against China’s government regulators.
“He may not have shown up, but he’s not missing,” CNBC anchor David Faber reported on January 5. ”He is very likely in Hangzhou, where the headquarters of Alibaba is,” Faber said in the report.
BREAKING: Jack Ma is not missing. The Alibaba founder is laying low, sources tell @DavidFaber. https://t.co/jn8limUSe7 pic.twitter.com/5tJQX99T6i
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) January 5, 2021
“He is being less visible, purposefully,” Faber said after noting that he has closely covered Ma and his businesses. “And you can expect for that to be the case for some time.”
Jack Ma 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. His photographs were also reportedly removed from the show’s website, The Telegraph, UK reported. He was replaced on the show by another Alibaba executive.
Jack Ma’s disappearance comes at a time when his companies – Alibaba and Ant Group – are under the scanner in China and are facing an antitrust probe for alleged monopolistic practices.
Hitting out at Chinese regulators, he had gone on to publicly criticize Chinese regulators and called the country’s banks ”pawnshops”. ”Mortgages and guarantees are for a pawnshop, but if we go to extremes in relying solely on collateral assets, certain enterprises will pledge all of their assets, and the pressure [for them] is enormous,” Ma had said in October last year.
Following his October criticism, Beijing came down heavily on Ma and suspended the $37billion initial public offering (IPO) of Ant Group as per direct orders of President Xi, as per the Wall Street Journal. According to Bloomberg, Ma was also advised to remain in China before launching an anti-monopoly investigation into his Alibaba Group Holding on Christmas Eve.