The telegraph
The mystery involves the whereabouts of Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who disappeared from his own reality TV show
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who has not been seen in public for several weeks after criticizing China’s financial regulatory system, has now disappeared as a judge on a TV talent show he created. Mr. Ma did not attend the final of “The African Business Heroes” in the style of “The Apprentice”, a program that offers young African entrepreneurs the chance to compete for a share of US $ 1.5 million (£ 1, 1 million) in cash prizes. Mr. Ma was originally supposed to be on the panel that judged competitors’ business ideas. But he was replaced as a judge by an executive at Alibaba, the e-commerce company he founded, in late November. His photograph was also removed from the judges’ page and he was left out of a promotional video, according to the Financial Times, which also said the broadcast of the final was postponed to spring. The newspaper quoted an Alibaba spokesman as saying that Mr. Ma could no longer be on the panel of judges “due to a scheduling conflict”. One of China’s most successful entrepreneurs, Ma appears to have fallen out of favor with his leaders after criticizing the country’s regulators and state-owned banks in late October. In a speech in Shanghai, he called for regulatory reform, which he said was stifling innovation. About a week later, the Shanghai Stock Exchange ordered a $ 37 billion initial public offering from Ant Group, a financial technology company co-founded by Ma, to be suspended. Mr. Ma has not been seen in public since. In late December, Chinese authorities announced an investigation into Alibaba on suspicion of monopolistic behavior and ordered the Ant Group to restructure its operations to meet regulatory guidelines. Chinese officials are trying to restrict oversight of the country’s financial sector, but they also seem to want to control the enormous influence of private technology giants. Mr. Ma is a popular figure in China and one of the country’s best-known businessmen abroad. Formerly an English teacher, he founded Alibaba in 1999, which has become China’s largest e-commerce company. He stepped down as president of the company in 2019, but is still one of its largest shareholders.