More than two months after going incommunicado, Alibaba founder and China's billionaire tech entrepreneur Jack Ma made his first public appearance recently, China's state media Global Times reported on Wednesday. Ma, who has run into trouble with the Xi Jinping government after his criticism of China's regulatory hurdles, reappeared on an online conference on Wednesday as he addressed scores of teachers, part of an annual event the billionaire hosts to recognise the achievements of rural educators.
According to tweets by Global Times journalist Qingqing Chen, Ma, who was an English teacher before he founded Alibaba, told the teachers that "we will meet each other again" after COVID-19.
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, 2021
Reportedly, Ma mentioned that the annual event was usually held in Sanya in southern Hainan but this year, due to Covid-19 it has to be done via video conference.
The reappearance of Ma, will, for the time being put an end to speculations that the billionaire was grappling with escalating scrutiny over his internet empire. As the ever charismatic techpreneur was replaced as the judge on his own reality show, rumours had even suggested that the Chinese government might be behind his disappearance.
There was no sign of Ma since late October when Alibaba-owned Ant Group's $37 billion stock debut in Shanghai and Hong Kong was halted by China over regulatory changes. Chinese regulators pulled the plugs on what would have been the world's largest initial public offering just two days before its scheduled debut in November.
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Soon after, it was reported that Ma and other senior executives of the company were summoned by Chinese regulators for talks. Ever since, the billionaire, who was once the Chinese government's poster boy and Asia's richest, and liked to remain in the limelight, had disappeared from public eye.
Ma's fortunes too have tumbled in the past two months. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ma has lost over $10 billion—from the highs of $61 billion in October 2020 to $52.9 billion currently.
