Missing for months, Jack Ma emerges for first time, addresses virtual conference
Beijing, Jan 20: Amid intense speculation over his whereabouts after being away from public view for a lengthy period, Alibaba and Ant co-founder Jack Ma has re-emerged, addressing 100 rural teachers in China over video conference on Wednesday, 20 January, Reuters reported, quoting local government media.
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This is Ma's first appearance in public since October 2020, when regulators began clamping down on his business empire after a critical speech, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The executive had kept out of public view since early November, when Chinese regulators torpedoed Ant's $35 billion IPO, tightened fintech regulations, then ordered an overhaul of Ant and launched a separate antitrust probe into Alibaba -- all in a span of days.
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Ma's last tweet was on 10 October last year.
An Alibaba spokesperson said Ma was unable to take part on the judging panel "due to a schedule conflict", according to reports.