Alibaba founder Jack Ma may be hiding in Tokyo

Billionaire Jack Ma has almost stopped appearing in public since he entered into a confrontation with the Chinese authorities in October 2020. Then, speaking at a summit in Shanghai, the founder of Alibaba and once the richest man in China criticized the attitude of Chinese regulators towards innovation and technology companies. The response to this was the repression of the Chinese authorities against the Alibaba Group and the disappearance of Ma from public space.

During that time, Ma was only seen in his brief, 48-second online appearance early last year and during a brief visit to the Netherlands. Also last summer, his 88-meter superyacht Ma Zen was spotted in Mallorca. According to The Guardian, citing the publication of the Financial Times, at least six months of this time, Ma, along with his family, as well as bodyguards and a cook, spent in Japan. They lived in Tokyo, combining business with pleasure: in addition to trips to the United States and Israel, the businessman and his relatives also regularly visited hot springs and ski resorts.

Ma's criticism of the Chinese government's policy of suppressing technological innovation is rumored to have infuriated Xi Jinping and made Alibaba a target for repression. Chinese regulators have blocked a $34 billion share offering by Alibaba's online payments subsidiary Ant Group in what would have been the largest share offering in the country's history. The company was forced to sell part of its media assets, including the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. Last year, the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People's Republic of China imposed a record-breaking fine of about $2.79 billion on Alibaba Group for market monopoly conduct.

As a result, a year of conflicts with the authorities cost Alibaba $ 344 billion. Ma's personal wealth has more than halved from nearly $50 billion to $21.7 billion. He entrusted the management of his business in China to a new generation of leaders.