(3 minutes read)
· Speculation is mounting over across the world the whereabouts of the Chinese billionaire and Alibaba founder Jack Ma
· Ma’s last appearance was at a speaking event in Shanghai where he was highly critical of China’s banking system
· In the speech, he referred to the backwardness of the Chinese banking system terming it as a legacy of the industrial revolution and called for urgent restructuring to make it respond to the needs of the modern times
Speculation is mounting over across the world the whereabouts of the Chinese billionaire and Alibaba founder Jack Ma . As reported by various media sources including channels, the Chinese top businessman has not been seen publicly for the last two months or so. Importantly, he was not featured in the final episode of his Africa’s Business Heroes television show, which took place in November last year. The Africa focused show gives budding African entrepreneurs to showcase their talents and get funding from Jack Ma Foundation. At the show, Ma was replaced by an Alibaba executive. The reason for the miss at that time was spelt out was due to scheduling conflict.
Ma’s last appearance was at a speaking event in Shanghai where he was highly critical of China’s banking system. In the speech, he referred to the backwardness of the Chinese banking system terming it as a legacy of the industrial revolution and called for urgent restructuring to make it respond to the needs of the modern times. The speech resulted in the suspension of an Alibaba affiliated IPO, Ant Financial, which was valued at a whopping US $37 billion. Chinese authroties have focused on Ma’s businesses since his speech and have even launched an antitrust probe into Alibaba.
Ma through his Jack Ma Foundation has supported African businesses and entrepreneurship and launched several initiatives on the continent. Ma has several charities which he operates through his Foundation or the United Nations. During the Covid-19 days, he donated tens of millions of masks around the world.
