Jack Ma, Chinese business magnate, philanthropist, reportedly missing

Ebangla Bureau

Alibaba founder Jack Ma,56, has remained invisible in public life for about last two months now post his criticism of the  Chinese regulators. The tech tycoon, once the blue-eyed boy of PRC, had not appeared  in the final episode of his own talent show, Africa’s Business Heroes further creating mystery around his whereabouts after calling banks ‘pawnshops’. Jack Ma, or Ma Yun, is a  business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. Ma is a strong proponent of an open and market-driven economy. ‘’Jack Ma’s trouble with the Chinese government first began when he first criticised  China’s regulators and state-owned banks for their ‘backwardness’. His remarks are said to have infuriated Beijing’s party brass, leading to Chinese President Xi Jinping to personally order a halt to the offering by Alibaba’s financial affiliate company, Ant Financial, which was set to raise USD 34 billion in the biggest stock-market debut in history,’’ reported Hollywood Reporter. The Financial Times has reported that Ma was recently replaced as a judge in the final of TV show ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’. “His photograph was removed from the judging webpage, and he was conspicuously left out of a promotional video,” the report claimed. “MA was dressed down by officials in Beijing and the $37 billion initial public offering of his company Ant Group was suspended. He has not been seen in public since,” the report further said. A spokesperson for Alibaba was quoted as saying that “due to a schedule conflict Mr Ma could no longer be part of the finale judge panel of Africa’s Business Heroes earlier this year (2020)”.edited by PKC