Jack Ma, the Chinese business magnate, who was missing for several months has now made a surprise comeback. Recently, he was seen addressing rural educators online as a part of his philanthropic event. In a video circulated online, the business tycoon can be seen talking about his plans to spend more money & time on philanthropy.
Just after his re-emergence, the overall valuation of Alibaba has seen a boom. The news of his entry spiked Alibaba’s New York-listed stock by 5.5% and Its Hong Kong shares saw a hike of 8.5%. It took Alibaba’s valuation to $58 billion and gave a big relief for investors, said Bloomberg.
Before he went missing, Jack Ma was seen in October 2020 when he condemned the Chinese regulatory policies and state-run banks. Earlier, Chinese regulators blocked the $35 billion IPO of his firm Ant and tightened fintech regulations.
Additionally, the Chinese regulators also launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba in just a few days. Many different speculations were raised by people about the fate of Jack Ma after his uninformed missing.
Jack Ma’s disappearance made big news when he was not present on a reality TV show where he was supposed to act as a judge. Many analysts started speculating about a jail term or the Chinese government’s takeover of the e-commerce giant.
Fang Kecheng, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong expressed that it is not yet clear what actions the Chinese regulators would take against Jack Ma. But it is for sure that he is in a much better situation than that speculated by many people.