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Jack Ma resurfaced after months out of public view, fueling intense speculation about the plight of the billionaire struggling with the growing scrutiny of his Internet empire.
China’s best-known businessman addressed teachers via live broadcast on Wednesday during an annual event he organizes to recognize rural educators, according to people familiar with the matter. In a video of the event that circulated online, Ma talked about how he will dedicate more time to philanthropy. The co-founder of Alibaba and Ant did not mention his recent disagreements with Beijing during his speech, which was first reported on a local blog. Ant confirmed the video’s authenticity in an email.
Alibaba’s shares rose more than 4% in Hong Kong. While it remains unclear where Ma is, his appearance in a public forum may help to quell persistent rumors about his fate as Beijing seeks investigations into the titan of finance online Ant Group Co. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The executive has remained out of public view since early November, when Chinese regulators torpedoed Ant’s $ 35 billion IPO, tightened fintech regulations, ordered a review of Ant and launched an antitrust investigation. separate on Alibaba – all in a span of days.
“Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a firmer resolution to dedicate ourselves to educational philanthropy, ”said Ma in the video. “Working hard for rural revitalization and common prosperity is the responsibility of our generation of entrepreneurs.”
Read More: Jack Ma is quiet after the spectacular defeat of Ant Group
The attack on Ma’s trillion-dollar corporate empire encapsulates a broader campaign to control a generation of Chinese technology giants that Beijing now sees as having too much control over the second world economy. The flood of actions against its twin companies showed how Beijing lost patience with the extraordinary power of its tech magnates, now seen as a threat to the political and financial stability that President Xi Jinping values most.
The government has increasingly sought to exert influence over the increasing degree of performance of companies Tencent Holdings Ltd. for ByteDance Ltd. gathers data and direct commerce and media. In the same month, Ant canceled its record IPO, the country’s top antitrust body issued new guidelines warning tech giants against monopolistic practices, from forced exclusive deals to data collusion. Although Ant and Alibaba have been impacted by this attack since November, investors have already sold their Tencent pairs to Meituan.
Ma’s position with Beijing is not yet clear. In early December, the man most identified with the meteoric rise of China Inc. was advised by the government to stay in the country, a person familiar with the matter said. The debate over his whereabouts has arisen because in the past Beijing has quietly detained billionaires who broke the law without immediate trial.
Read More: The rich have fled Alibaba after the monopoly investigation, says Citi
(Updates with comments from the second paragraph speech)