Chinese tech billionaire and the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, has vanished from the public eye for over two months after he came in conflict with current President Xi Jinping-led Central Communist Party government.
The billionaire tycoon 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 then removed from the show’s website.
Ma was supposed to be part of the judging, but was replaced by an Alibaba executive in the November final. It was stated that Ma was unable to take part in the show due to a schedule conflict.
One of China’s unusually vocal and outspoken tycoons, Ma flayed the CCP government’s ‘pawnshop’ financial regulators and state-owned banks in an incendiary speech in Shanghai back in October. Further, calling for reform of a system that ‘stifled business innovation’, he likened global banking regulations to an ‘old people’s club’.
The speech angered the CCP government, which viewed Ma’s criticisms as an attack on the authority of the Communist Party, and this led to a clampdown on Ma’s business activities.
In November, officials in Beijing reprimanded Ma and suspended and blocked the $37billion initial public offering of his Ant Group on the direct order of President Jinping.
Ma was then advised to remain in China before launching an anti-monopoly investigation into his Alibaba Group Holding on Christmas Eve. Beijing even ordered Ma’s financial tech company Ant Group to scale back its operations.
Ma is currently one of China’s wealthiest men and his work for the UN and global charity activities in recent years has brought a softer edge to China’s global image.