Jack Ma, one of the world's richest people, hasn’t been seen in public for two months, even missing the final episode of a TV show on which he was a judge- fueling speculation about his whereabouts.
Ma, who is the highest profile Chinese entrepreneur in the world as the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), has been out of public view ever since he blasted Chinese regulators back in late October… in a blistering public attack on the country’s financial watchdogs and banks, saying they were stifling innovation in fintech.
In the days that followed, Chinese regulators zeroed in on Ma’s businesses, launching an antitrust probe into Alibaba and suspending the $37 billion IPO of Alibaba’s Ant Group.
The Financial Times reported on Friday that Ma was replaced as a judge in the final episode of a game show for entrepreneurs called Africa’s Business Heroes.
When asked about the missed TV appearance by Reuters, an Alibaba spokeswoman said on Monday that his absence was due to a scheduling conflict…declining to elaborate.