Jack Ma, the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate is speculated to be missing currently.
The Chinese billionaire has not made a public appearance in the last two months.
This is particularly suspicious as right before he went missing, he was reportedly in direct conflict with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s led ruling communist government.
The business 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 removed from the show’s website, The Telegraph, UK reported.
The ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’ show gives budding African entrepreneurs the chance to compete for a slice of US $1.5 million.
An Alibaba spokesperson said Ma was unable to take part on the judging panel “due to a schedule conflict”, according to Financial Times.
According to a Yahoo.com report, Ma’s business empire, Ant Group, has been under scrutiny by Beijing ever since Ma delivered a controversial speech in Shanghai on 24 October that criticised China’s regulation system for stifling innovation and likened global banking rules to an “old people’s club”.
The speech reportedly angered the Chinese government, as it was perceived as an attack on the authority of the Communist Party. This even led to its extraordinary crackdown on Ma’s business engagements.
The Chinese government even went ahead to suspend Ma’s $37billion initial public offering of his Ant Group on the direct order of President Jinping, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Ma was then strongly advised to stay in China before he launched an anti-monopoly investigation into his Alibaba Group Holding on Christmas Eve, according to Bloomberg.
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