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"I can hardly wait to meet her"
: The billionaire
Jack Ma
(2nd from left) is the face of the TV talent show "Africa's Business Heroes", which he launched himself - he was missing from the final in November.
Photo: imago images / VCG
Alibaba founder
Jack Ma
(56) is considered one of the most successful and wealthy entrepreneurs in China.
Apparently so successful that he dared to criticize China's regulatory authorities and its state-owned banks during a financial forum in Shanghai at the end of October.
The fact that the Alibaba subsidiary Ant Financial suddenly had to call off its billion dollar IPO at the beginning of November is seen by observers as an indication that Ma may have fallen out of favor with Beijing.
The antitrust authorities have been investigating the Ant Group since Christmas, the Chinese central bank indirectly asked the Alibaba subsidiary to smash itself, the financial company should "clean up" large parts of its business as quickly as possible, was the order.
more on the subject
Beijing baffles Jack Ma: Ant Group narrowly escapes the breakup
Alleged monopoly offense: China's antitrust authorities are investigating Alibaba
And Jack Ma?
The billionaire, who posted his last message on Twitter on October 10, has practically disappeared from the public eye since his criticism in late October.
This is unusual for an entrepreneur who loves the public and who sometimes really stages himself.
Concern about the whereabouts of the exceptional entrepreneur grew recently because Ma is the central face of the TV talent show "Africa's Business Heroes", which he himself launched, and was quickly replaced as a juror in the final in November.
An Alibaba spokesman just justified a "scheduling conflict".
According to "FT", however, his photo also disappeared from the jury website and Jack Ma was simply cut out of promotional videos.
In August, the tech entrepreneur announced via tweet that he could hardly wait to meet the finalists of the show in person.
Now, according to other reports, there is speculation that the authorities may have taken Jack Ma out of circulation and detained him.
Ma is said to be a member of the Chinese Communist Party himself and has so far been loyal to it.
It is quite possible, however, that the entrepreneur Beijing has simply become too brash and powerful.
According to the "Wall Street Journal", China's President
Xi Jinping
(67) is said to have personally ordered the planned world's largest IPO of Ant Financial to be thwarted.
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