01.04.21 - Billionaire Jack Ma, the founder Alibaba Group and formerly served as its executive chairman, is suspected to be missing.
Over the past few days, reports have emerged that the business magnate has neither been spotted in public nor has he made a social media post since late October. Multiple media outlets have also reported that he was abruptly replaced by Alibaba co-founder and executive Lucy Peng as a judge on the final episode of Africa’s Business Heroes, the talent show Ma founded through his namesake foundation.
The elephant in the room that no one is willing to talk about openly is that Jack Ma has been on the outs with the CCP. Being a billionaire in the Peoples Republic, historically is a job with a very short life expectancy. In October at conference Ma called for reform of China’s banking system and openly criticized Beijing for stifling innovation.
A week later the highly anticipated $225 billion public offering of Alibaba’s Fintech arm Ant Group was blocked last minute by Chinese regulators. The Shanghai Stock exchange noted that the offering did not meet listing qualifications or disclosure requirements as Chine looks to overhaul rules and regulations related to the fintech industry. In December an “anti-trust” investigation was launched into Alibaba. Earlier this year Ma also cashed out $8.2 billion in Alibaba stock.
More evidence mounts that he has fallen out of favor with the party across WeChat and Chinese media. From scrutiny from Chinese academics in regards to his comments, to hit pieces emerging in Chinese media.
Source: Yahoo Finance
