Recent reports have surfaced that fuel the suspicion that Chinese Billionaire and Chairman of Alibaba Group; Jack Ma is missing. This is also supported by the fact that he has not been seen in public in more than two months.
Jack Ma who founded Alibaba a Chinese multinational technology company that specializes in retail, e-commerce, Internet, and technology, did not make an appearance on the final episode of his talent show called Africa’s Business Heroes, as scheduled. The show gives African entrepreneurs an opportunity to compete for a share of 1.5 Million Dollars (163.8 Million Kenyan Shillings).
According to the United Kingdom’s Telegraph Jack Ma was slated to be part of the team of Judges for the November 2020 final, but was instead replaced by an executive at Alibaba.
Financial Times revealed an Alibaba Spokesperson stated that Jack Ma was unable to participate in the Judging Panel for the Africa’s Business Heroes show, “due to a schedule conflict”.
Jack Ma’s last tweet was on 10th of October 2020.
His disappearance is occurring at a point in time when the authorities in China, have been paying close attention to Jack Ma constantly growing empire.
Jack Ma who is regarded by not so few, as a symbol of China’s entrepreneurial brilliance while still maintaining unconventional and ebullient approaches, has been at loggerheads with the powers that be in Kenya who according to Business Daily Africa, are intent on trimming down his empire to show that no one is bigger than the party.
When it comes to the business scene in Asia Jack Ma is one of the most recognizeable faces. His fortune is estimated to be up to an impressive 58 Billion Dollars. Jack Ma also had the world’s biggest IPO spiked by Chinese regulators just days before its launch.
Had the sale which was slated to go down in November of 2020 gone through, his wealth would have risen to an even more impressive 70 Billion Dollars in a record breaking listing of the group’s Ant Group financial arm in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Chinese regulators however, stopped the deal in the last minute due to what first looked to be concerns regarding the company access to the finances of hundreds of millions of individuals.
The global demand for the dual Shanghai and Hong Kong IPO listing pushed the IPO launch towards truly impressive valuations and potentially granted Jack Ma and Ant Group even more legitimacy, clout and if course; funding. This in turn and according to Business Daily Africa, resulted in the decision by the Chinese Regulators.
The charismatic and outspoken founder of Alibaba; Jack Ma had in the past criticized the current financial system in China, calling it outdated. In a speech delivered in October of 2020, he referred to state owned banks as “Pawn Shops”. This subsequently led to him being summoned for regulatory talks just before Ant Group’s IPO was suspended.
This was seen by observers as a tough public rebuke to Jack Ma, who then disappeared from the spotlight he never shies away from after getting dressed down by regulators.
With the announcement by the Chinese government of an anti-monopoly probe into Alibaba; the tech company Jack Ma founded and the regulators summoning Ant Group, there are fears that the entrepreneur is being targeted. His inspirational backstory is a representation of a self-confident generation of Chinese entrepreneurs from China who are ready to take the rest of the world by storm.
Jack Ma was in dire need of cash and working as an English Teacher when someone introduced him to the internet during a trip to the United States in the 90s. Fascinated, he immediately tried out a number of internet related projects before finally convincing a number of his friends in 1999 to give him 60,000 Dollars for the setting up of a new business in China which was an emerging economic force at the time.
The result of that decision, was Alibaba a modern-day empire built majorly on e-commerce and founded from his bedroom in Hangzhou. What started as an online shopping phenomenom, has since grown into a fintech giant.
In 2014 Alibaba got listed in New York at a record breaking offering of 25 Billion Dollars.
Alibaba is credited with changing the shopping habits of hundreds of millions of individuals in China and also catapulting Jack Ma into Global popularity.
Speaking to CNN Jack Ma once said, “The first time I used the internet, I touched on the keyboard and I find ‘well, this is something I believe, it is something that is going to change the world and change China’.”
Ant Group where Jack Ma is the largest shareholder, is currently the world’s largest digital payment platform, with 731 million monthly users on its Alipay application.
Although this is impressive beyond any doubt, it is given rise to fears it is now too deeply into the pockets of ordinary individuals in China through its insurance products, investment products, and micro loans.
Jack Ma is seen by many as a benevolent billionaire with a different approach.
Affectionately called Father Ma in China, he is hailed for his habit of lighting up company events with sing and dance appearances as Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga and even Snow White, and his self-deprecation whenever he talks about how he was rejected Harvard 10 times.
He retired from business in 2019 as his ventures grew, and instead decided to focus on giving. He has since evolved into a philanthropist.
Certain observer however, view his works of charity as having a touch of idiosyncracy. Especially after footage of a child who looked like Jack Ma in a village located in central China went viral. The entrepreneur pledged to pay for the child’s education all through to university.
His philanthropic reputation might be threatened if sentiments on China’s social media platform Weibo are anything to go by. A sizeable number of users on the platform believe that Jack Ma has begun to lean towards hubris by criticizing fintech regulators.
In a country where outsiders believe getting wealthy inevitably leads to you grabbing the attention of the powerful, Jack Ma has faced his fair dose of battles over the years.
The Billionaire has in the past made it known that he preferred to keep the Chinese government at arm’s length. Speaking to the World Economic Forum in 2007 he said, “My philosophy is to be in love with the government, but never marry them.”
This is why concerns were expressed when the Chinese government owned People’s Daily made it known that Jack Ma is a member of the Communist Party. The entrepreneur had never commented on that in the past.
Whatever the case the fact that his ventures continue to grow in scale and size means that he might have to meet the government halfway at some point.
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