Alibaba founder and current boss Jack Ma appeared in public for the first time after several reports suggested the tech mogul of missing for months. His company's price stock jumps to 5% following the reappearance.
As Bloomberg reported the news first, the Chinese billionaire attended an online event held by the Jack Ma Foundation to celebrate rural teachers. The foundation rewards the teacher with cash support during the program, which is annually held in the resort city of Sanya before moving into online teleconferences amidst the pandemic. The video circulated on Chinese social media like Sina Weibo before reaching mainstream media.
"Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a firmer resolution to devote ourselves to education philanthropy," Jack Ma, who used to work as an English teacher, said in the video without mentioning his recent run-ins with Beijing. He reassures that the foundation is "working hard" to revitalize the rural area and shared prosperity.
Although his current whereabouts are still unknown, Ma's reappearance is a sigh of relief for many.
Jack Ma Controversial Statement
Jack Ma took the Chinese public by storm after his controversial statement about Beijing's state-owned banks' regulation system last October 2020. In a lengthy speech, Ma said that the government is "too old," and drastic and radical reform of the current system is a must.
Dated October 24, Jack Ma's speech at The Bund Summit in Shanghai called the Chinese government the "pawnshop mentality" that slows down innovation.
As summarized by The Asset, Jack Ma addressed 'the pawnshop mentality' as a severe problem among Chinese entrepreneurs. It hinders the country's economic progress as entrepreneurs are under pressure to pledge all their assets and become distorted.
Beijing did not take the speech lightly, as the following weeks became even rockier for Jack Ma.
Jack Ma Gone Missing
A week later, the Chinese government suspended the IPO (initial public offer) of the Ant Group, one of Ma's cash tap, worth $37 billion. Since then, Ma has not made a public appearance and has been advised not to leave the country.
Even worse, the tech mogul also disappeared from his very own talent show, "Africa's Business Heroes," earlier this month. The show offers a chance to give African entrepreneurs a total of $1,5 million to fund their startups. His picture has also been taken off the website's judging page, making the matter more worrisome.
For the last couple of months, Beijing has been on its best attempt to crack down "unhealthy monopolitic" practices within the internet sector of the country.
Following the controversy, Alibaba shares in Hong Kong fell by 7%. The People's Bank of China issued an official order for Ant Group execs to rectification its business to stop the company from becoming overly powerful with its monopoly practices.
