Ma, the billionaire founder of technology giants Alibaba and Ant Group, has not been seen since regulators blocked Ant’s record public offering in November.
Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba and Ant, has re-emerged from public view after months, dropping intense speculation about the fate of the billionaire who is struggling with increasing research on his internet empire.
China’s most recognizable entrepreneur addressed numerous teachers at an online conference on Wednesday, as part of an annual event the billionaire is hosting to recognize the achievements of rural educators. His appearance, which was first reported in a local blog, has been confirmed by people familiar with the matter.
Ma’s re-emergence could help quell persistent rumors about his fate, while Beijing investigates online financing Titan Ant Group Co. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The executive has been out of the public eye since early November, when Chinese regulators torpedoed Ant’s $ IP billion of $ 35 billion. , tightened fintech regulations, when ordered an overhaul of Ant and launched a separate antitrust investigation in Alibaba – all within days.
The onslaught on Ma’s billion-dollar corporate empire includes a broader campaign to overthrow a generation of Chinese technology giants that Beijing now considers to be the world’s no. 2-economy to curb. The spate of actions against his twin companies has driven home how Beijing has lost patience with the extraordinary power of its technology moguls, who are now seen as a threat to the political and financial stability that President Xi Jinping praises the most.