Jack Ma's Ant Group debut on the stock market suspended 0:54
(CNN Business) ––
Jack Ma's businesses are under enormous pressure right now from China.
But nothing has been known in months about the legendary billionaire businessman and co-founder of China's most successful tech empire.
Ma has not appeared in public or posted on social media since late October.
Just over a week before China's regulators blocked the long-awaited listing of Alibaba's financial affiliate Ant Group at the last minute.
LEE: Jack Ma retires from Alibaba when he turns 55, now what's next?
Ant Group went from preparing the world's largest initial public offering to being ordered to adjust large swaths of its business.
China's regulators have criticized the company for driving rivals off the market and affecting consumer rights.
Meanwhile, Alibaba has been investigated in the country for alleged monopoly behavior.
And
The Wall Street Journal
reported last week that Beijing is seeking to shrink Ma's empire and potentially take a bigger stake in his businesses.
The outlet cited Chinese officials and government advisers familiar with the matter.
Ma was even absent from the finale of an African talent show he created, according to the
Financial Times
.
The newspaper reported that Ma was replaced as a judge during the November filming of the latest episode of "Africa's Business Heroes."
It is a television contest for entrepreneurs.
Jack Ma speaks during the 2020 China Green Business Summit last September.
Previously, on October 12, Ma had indicated that he was looking forward to meeting the finalists during the last episode online on November 14.
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Alibaba told CNN Business on Monday that Ma "had to miss the final due to a scheduling conflict."
The company declined to comment further on his whereabouts.
Ma has kept a lower profile within China for some time.
This was stated by Duncan Clark, author of "Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built" and founder of the investment advisory firm BDA China.
Clark added that Beijing wants its narrative on Ant Group's initial public offering to dominate the public conversation.
Also that the company probably knows that having any "diversity of opinion" on the subject won't help.
"But it certainly stands out… the silence is deafening," he added.
Jack Ma retires from Alibaba on his 55th birthday 1:11
Ma no longer holds executive or senior-level positions in any of the companies he co-founded.
In fact, he stepped down as CEO of Alibaba in 2019. However, he is still Alibaba's largest individual shareholder with almost 5%, worth about $ 25 billion.
Ant Group indicated in regulatory documents last year that Ma has "ultimate control" over the company.
Furthermore, his personal assets were expected to increase after the public offering.
Ma has also made frequent public appearances to talk about his philanthropic work, which he focused mainly on after retiring from Alibaba.
His most recent post Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, is dated October 17.
There he included, for example, comments he made in an educational forum in China.
Ma has also been a high-profile speaker at major international events such as the World Economic Forum.
Yet it was Ma's latest high-profile appearance that China's tech watchers suspect put their businesses in trouble.
At a conference in Shanghai in late October, Ma publicly criticized Chinese regulators for stifling innovation by being too risk averse.
"What we need is to build a healthy financial system, not systematic financial risks," he said.
«Innovating without risk is killing innovation.
There is no innovation without risks in the world, ”he insisted.
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Days later, China's regulators summoned executives from Ma and Ant Group to conduct what authorities called "regulatory interviews."
And the IPO was withdrawn.
Jeffrey Halley, a market analyst at Oanda, wrote at the time that the comments "clearly did not resonate in the corridors of power in Beijing."
Official or company statements do not clarify whether Ma has attended any meetings since then regarding the future of his business.
Although Ma has been out of the limelight, his companies made it clear that they listen to Beijing.
Ant said last week that he appreciated the "guidance and help" from regulators.
This, after Beijing spoke publicly about its requirements for the company.
And Alibaba pledged in late December to "actively cooperate" with antitrust investigators.
The potential threats to Ma's business aren't limited to China, either.
Washington has been stepping up its campaign against Chinese companies in recent weeks as the Trump administration draws to a close.
And while Alibaba has not been a specific target, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo verified the company name late last summer when he urged American companies to remove "unreliable" Chinese-owned technology from your digital networks.
Public opinion about Ma in China, meanwhile, has turned sour.
Many of the responses to Ma's October Weibo post had a particularly negative tone.
"Again, it's about resources and brain mines," wrote one Weibo user, in response to Ma's use of those words to describe children in China and the need for a solid education.
Laura He and the CNN staff in Beijing contributed to this report.
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