Chinese business magnate Jack Ma reappeared on Wednesday after missing for nearly 4 months ever since country’s regulators whipped a crackdown on the billionaire’s company Alibaba and Ant Group. Ma’s disappearance had raised huge speculation around the world about his quandary with escalating scrutiny over his internet empire.
Jack Ma, China’s most famous entrepreneur who is also known for his quirky lifestyle was seen addressing teachers via live stream during an annual event he hosts to recognize rural educators. In a video of the even that has been circulated widely online, Ma talked about how he will spend more time on philanthropy.
However, the co-founder of Alibaba and Ant did not talk about his feud with the government agencies during this event. Ant later confirmed the authenticity of the video in an email.
“Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a firmer resolution to devote ourselves to education philanthropy,” Ma said in the video. “Working hard for rural revitalization and common prosperity is the responsibility for our generation of businessmen.”
The video was first surfaced on Global Times, a Chinese government mouthpiece, and since has been shared widely on Twitter.
“Ma, who used to be an English teacher and founder of #Alibaba, also gives wishes to village teachers via a video on Wednesday, saying usually the activity is held in Sanya in southern Hainan but this year, due to #Covid19 it has to be done via video conference.” the caption of the tweet said.
Ma, who used to be an English teacher and founder of #Alibaba, also gives wishes to village teachers via a video on Wednesday, saying usually the activity is held in Sanya in southern Hainan but this year, due to #Covid19 it has to be done via video conference. pic.twitter.com/yfi7oPB5Sb
— Qingqing_Chen (@qingqingparis) January 20, 2021Advertisement
Chinese regulators have been clamping down on Jack Ma’s business empire ever since he critiqued the Chinese Communist Party alleging that it is trying to gag innovation in the country by producing such policies.
Ever since then, the Chinese regulators had blocked Ant’s $35 billion IPO, tightened fintech regulations, then ordered an overhaul of Ant and launched a separate antitrust probe into Alibaba -- all in a span of days.
