Alibaba founder and Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is suspected of missing after failing to appear for the final episode of his own talent show.
Reports indicates that the high-profile businessman has not made a public appearance in over two months amid his ongoing conflict with the Chinese government.
Times of India reported that Ma last appeared in public on October 24 last year when he delivered a speech at the Bund Summit in Shanghai criticizing China’s regulation system for stifling innovation.
Few days after his speech, his Ant’s IPO business which had already received permission from China’s securities watchdog was reportedly suspended.
Later the following month, Ma was supposed to be a part of the judging panel in November at Africa’s Business Heroes final, the show provides African entrepreneurs the chance to compete for a slice of US$1.5 million prize.
However, the philanthropist was surprisingly replaced by an Alibaba executive after he failed to show up on the show and his picture was also removed from the website.
Commenting on the matter, Alibaba spokesperson said Mr Ma failed to appear on the show due to conflict in his schedule.
Other reports revealed that in December last year, an anti-monopoly investigation was launched by China against Alibaba and Ant Group was ordered to restructure its operations.
Jack Ma stepped down as the chairman of Alibaba in September 2019, 20 years after he founded the company and handed over the role to the company’s CEO to Daniel Zhang and announced at the time that he will continue on the board of the company until its annual general shareholders meeting in 2020.
Since the surfacing of the novel corona virus, Ma has donated millions of face masks to Europe, the US and the World Health Organisation in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.
He is also known for his charity work with the Jack Ma Foundation focused on areas of education, entrepreneurship, female leadership, and the environment.
