Jack Ma may have disappeared in person and from our minds, but looks like he has been found, and attention is on him again. If you’ve no time to read this article, you can watch this short video about his whereabouts:
Ni Hao to Konnichiwa
The founder of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, is reported to be living in Toyko whilst maintaining a low profile, socializing mainly within private clubs in the city, as reported by Financial Times.
The billionaire businessman had virtually vanished from public view two years ago, following a run-in with the Chinese authorities. Yet, looks like Ma ain’t running hard enough, now that his whereabouts have been disclosed to the media.
According to reports, Ma has been staying in Japan for close to six months and has spent much of his time partying at many exclusive clubs, as well as taking his family on vacation to hot springs and rural ski areas.
Imagine being a wanted man on the run and yet still having lavish vacations. He’s literally living that blockbuster movie lifestyle.
Besides Japan, Ma has been visiting the US and Israel on a regular basis. It is unclear what the purpose of his visit is, but it’s definitely very suspicious.
And Big brother Xi is definitely not gonna like that.
Ma’s net worth has dropped significantly since his runaway. When Beijing pushed for “common prosperity”, which holds that the wealthy should distribute their wealth to the poor to build a more equitable society, it resulted in a deep plummet in the net worth of Chinese tech and property firm owners.
In Ma’s case, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ma, who peaked at nearly $61 billion in 2020, is now estimated to be worth roughly $30.7 billion.
That is also partly due to Alibaba’s stock price dropping nearly 75% from its highest in 2020.
I doubt that hurt him since he’s still a billionaire anyways.
Explaining his Silence
What made Ma leave the limelight?
Well, several things. For one, before the public offering of his financial service venture, Ant Group, on the stock exchange, Ma gave a controversial speech to a group of high-profile figures in which he criticized the Chinese financial system.
He also claimed that Chinese banks operate with a “pawn-shop” mentality. When it came to regulating the new world of digital finance, he also asserted that the authorities were attempting to apply the approach of running a railway station to manage an airport.
These statements naturally angered the banking establishments and even reached as far as President Xi’s ears.
Soon after, Ant Group’s floatation was put on hold, and Ma and his close colleagues were called in for a meeting with the regulators.
Shares in Ma’s businesses dipped about $76 billion in value, and following the meeting, Ma vanished into thin air.
Ironically, during his disappearance, some people wondered if he was even alive. Well, clearly, he has been living well. Very well, in fact.
Featured Image: Shuttershock / Frederic Legrand & yu_photo