Jack Ma Alibaba co-founder and Chinese tech billionaire suspected missing

Alibaba co-founder and Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma is suspected missing.

Jack Ma has reportedly not appeared in public for over two months after he gave a controversial speech in October 2020.

His non-appearance at the final episode of his own talent show, Africa’s Business Heroes in November has led to the speculations of gone missing.

However, an Alibaba spokesperson has told Financial Times that Jack Ma was unable to attend the final episode of the show as a judge due to a scheduled time conflict.

Jack Ma, in a speech on October 24, criticized China’s “pawnshop financial regulators and state-owned banks, calling for a reform of China’s regulation system for stifling business innovation and likened global banking regulations to an ‘old people’s club’.

“Today’s financial system is the legacy of the Industrial Age. We must set up a new one for the next generation and young people. We must reform the current system,” Ma said in the speech.

According to The Wall Street Journal, officials in Beijing dressed down Ma and suspended the $37billion initial public offering of his Ant Group on the direct order of President Xi in November.

The events have led rumour mills on various platforms in action.