BEIJING (Reuters) – The absence of Alibaba founder Jack Ma from public view in the past two months, including the absence of the final episode of a TV show on which he would appear as a judge, has fueled speculation on social media about his whereabouts. amid Chinese regulation cracking down on its expanding business empire.
China’s highest profile businessman has not appeared in public since a forum in late October in Shanghai, where he attacked China’s regulatory system in a speech that put him on a collision course with authorities, resulting in the suspension of a $ 37 IPO billion of the ant from Alibaba Group fintech arm.
The Financial Times reported on Friday that Ma was replaced as a judge in the final episode in November of a game show for entrepreneurs called Africa’s Business Heroes.
An Alibaba spokeswoman told Reuters on Monday that the change was due to a timing conflict, declining to comment further.
Although news coverage of Ma’s absence from public view has sparked speculation on Twitter, which is blocked in China, it was not a significant trending topic on social media in mainland China, where sensitive topics are subject to censorship.
Chinese regulators have focused on Ma’s business since his October speech, including launching an antitrust investigation on Alibaba and ordering Ant to shake up its credit and consumer finance businesses, including creating a separate holding company to meet requirements of capital.
“I think he was told to shut up,” said Duncan Clark, president of Beijing-based technology consultancy BDA China. “This is a very unique situation, more linked to the Ant scale and to sensitivities about financial regulation,” he said.
Hong Kong’s listed Alibaba shares fell 2.15% on Monday.
(Corrects the sixth paragraph to show Ant’s operational restructuring includes the creation of a separate holding company)
Reporting by Tony Munroe and Brenda Goh; Carmel Crimmins Edition