Alibaba founder and Chinese millionaire has been reportedly missing over two months after getting involved in a spat with President Xi Jinping-led Central Communist Party government.
According to a Yahoo.com report, Ma's business empire, Ant Group, has been under scrutiny by Beijing ever since Ma delivered a controversial speech in Shanghai on 24 October that criticised China's regulation system for stifling innovation and likened global banking rules to an "old people's club".
Ant's IPO (valued at a record-setting US $37 billion or AU $48 billion), which had already received the green light from China's securities watchdog, was suspended, with the Shanghai Stock Exchange saying Ant had reported "significant issues such as the changes in financial technology regulatory environment," the Yahoo.com reported.
The business tycoon was set to appear as a judge in the final episode of his own talent show, 'Africa's Business Heroes', but mysteriously did not turn up for it and as a consequence, his photographs were removed from the show's website, The Telegraph, UK, reported.
"Due to a schedule conflict Mr Ma could no longer be part of the finale judge panel of Africa's Business Heroes earlier this year (2020)," an Alibaba spokesperson said, a News18.com report mentioned.
