One of China’s richest person has disappeared from the public eye. Jack Ma, who is reportedly worth just shy of $50billion, has been vanished for over two months. This development comes after the Alibaba Group co-founder came in conflict with the Central Communist Party government led by President Xi Jinping.
Ma has also been replaced as a judge in the final of his own talent show, ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’. The show gives budding African entrepreneurs a chance to compete for a part of $1.5 million. His photos have also been removed from the show’s website, The Telegraph, UK reported.
The business tycoon’s absence comes after he flayed China’s regulators and its state-owned banks. Ma had heavily criticised the “pawnshop mentality” of Chinese banks, accusing them of slowing down innovation.
Angered by Ma’s criticism, the Chinese government suspended the $37billion initial public offering (IPO) of his Ant Group. The suspension was personally ordered by President Xi Jinping, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Days later, the CCP unveiled new anti-trust rules which hugely devalued the firm, before regulators directed an anti-trust probe into Ant Group.
“Due to a schedule conflict Mr Ma could no longer be part of the finale judge panel of Africa’s Business Heroes earlier this year (2020),” an Alibaba spokesperson said.
