Jack Ma, once China’s richest man, has been living in Tokyo for six months. Ma largely disappeared from public life in China two years ago after criticizing the Chinese regime and accusing state-owned banks of a “pawnbroker mentality.”
The founder of Alibaba now appears to live in the Japanese capital with his family, according to the Financial Times. The British newspaper reports, based on insiders, that Ma has spent a lot of time with his family in Tokyo and other parts of Japan over the past six months. He would also have visited the United States and Israel.
The billionaire has kept a low profile since Beijing’s crackdown. Chinese regulators previously blocked the IPO of Ma’s Ant Group, Alibaba’s financial subsidiary. Record fines were also imposed on the webshop group. The entrepreneur is said to be an ‘enthusiastic collector of art’ in Tokyo, according to local leaders from the Japanese art world who were interviewed by the financial daily. Some of his friends have also said that he “paints with watercolors to pass the time.” The charismatic entrepreneur would also frequent private clubs and ski resorts.
Jack Ma’s disappearance in China has been speculated since late 2020. Since his criticism of the Chinese leadership, the two companies he founded, Ant and e-commerce group Alibaba, have faced a series of obstacles from the government. Ma was also in the Netherlands for a while last year. He was also seen on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
In recent years, the Chinese government has targeted alleged anti-competitive practices by some of the country’s biggest names. Beijing believes that large internet companies control too much data and have grown too fast. In July, it was reported that Ma planned to hand over control of Ant Group to appease Chinese regulators and revive the IPO.
50 billion
The founder and CEO of Alibaba (the counterpart of Google, eBay and Amazon) had a net worth of more than 50 billion euros. His story was an unprecedented one success story: from an eccentric English teacher he became a global economic player and star in ten years. His star fell when Ma dared to criticize Chinese President Xi Jinping. Suddenly he was gone. Supposedly for some “retraining,” as happened to other Chinese businessmen who got out of line. In a few months his wealth had shrunk by half.
Ma herself is silent for the time being.
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