Jack Ma (馬雲), the billionaire founder of Chinese Internet behemoth Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), yesterday made his first public appearance in more than two months, ending weeks of speculation about his whereabouts.
Ma one of China’s richest people with a fortune estimated at about US$58 billion disappeared from the public eye in early November last year, when he was hauled in front of regulators for an October speech critical of China’s outdated financial system.
Shortly afterward, the record-breaking US$37 billion initial public offering (IPO) of his financial group Ant Group Co (螞蟻集團) was spiked at the last minute by
Wealthy investors rushed to offload stock in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. after China began an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at billionaire Jack Ma’s internet giant, according to Citigroup Inc.’s private bank.