Alibaba founder's conspicuous disappearance from public view, including his missing the final episode of a TV show on which he was to appear as a judge, has fuelled social media speculation over his whereabouts amid a Chinese regulatory clampdown on his sprawling business empire.
It is an absence that has cause for concern. Jack Ma is one of the symbols of Chinese capitalism.
Is he the latest government critic silenced by the Communist Party?
56-year-old Ma has reportedly not been seen since early October, the same time when he had hit out at the ruling Communist regime in China.
When the Financial Times reported on Friday that Ma was replaced in November as a judge in the final episode of a game show for entrepreneurs called Africa's Business Heroes, an Alibaba spokeswoman was quoted by Reuters as saying the change was due to a scheduling conflict without further elaboration.
His estimated wealth has plunged by billions, and on 24 December China launched an antitrust investigation into the e-commerce giant he founded.
Jack Ma last tweeted to his over 612K followers on Twitter on October 10.
Similar incidents are not unheard of in China. Between 2016 and 2017 several Chinese billionaires went missing for a while. Some actually never re-appeared. And those who reappeared explained their disappearance with their ‘helping the authorities’.
Jack Ma appears to have fallen out of favour with China’s leadership.
The Wall Street Journal reported Xi Jinping, very upset over Ma's criticisms of the Communist government's increasingly tight financial regulation, personally intervened to hinder the initial public offering of Ant Group, which would have been the world’s largest floating ever.
Ma's disappearance comes at a time when the Chinese Communist Party seems growing intolerant towards big private businesses that have amassed capital and influence and wants them to fall into line.
Jack Ma and China’s central government had to date managed to get along pretty well, at least it appeared so. The entourage of China’s top party leaders were among Alibaba’s early investors and found themselves as winners in its historic IPO.
Back in July 2014, Jack Ma accompanied President Xi on a state visit to South Korea.
In a panel discussion hosted by the Wall Street Journal, Ma described his relationship with the Chinese government this way: "As always, be in love with them, but don’t marry them."
