Alibaba founder Jack Ma has not been seen in the public since October after speaking out against oppressive communist led Chinese government.
Ekohotblog reports that Alibaba had in October at a forum in Shanghai blasted China’s regulatory system.
in a speech he gave at the forum, Alibaba had claimed the government’s policies stifle innovation and impede creativity, an outburst that put him on a collision course with Beijing.
Since his trenchant but controversial speech in late October, he has gone Incommunicado and not been seen in the public, a development that saw him miss the final episode of a TV show on which he was to appear as a judge.
His disappearance has engendered concerns and sparked social media speculation over his whereabouts amid a Chinese regulatory clampdown on his sprawling business empire.
The development has also led to the suspension of a $37 billion IPO of Alibaba’s Ant Group fintech arm.
The Financial Times reported on Friday that Ma was replaced as a judge in the final episode in November of a game show for entrepreneurs called Africa’s Business Heroes.
An Alibaba spokeswoman told Reuters on Monday that the change was due to a scheduling conflict, declining further comment.
While reports of Ma’s disappeareance from public triggered concerns on Twitter, which is blocked in China, it was not a trending topic of note on social media in mainland China, where sensitive topics are subject to censorship.
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Chinese regulators have targeted Ma’s businesses since his October speech including launching an antitrust probe into Alibaba and ordering Ant to rejig its lending and other consumer finance businesses including the creation of a separate holding company to meet capital requirements.
“I think he’s been told to lay low,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of Beijing-based tech consultancy BDA China. “This is a pretty unique situation, more linked to the sheer scale of Ant and the sensitivities over financial regulation,” he said.
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