Jack Ma Missing, Alibaba Olympics Pact Secure

(ATR) Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma may be missing from public view but is not in peril say reports from Asia.

The 54-year-old entrepreneur has not been seen since late October after speaking at a business forum in China where he delivered critical remarks about the country’s banking and finance policies.

His absence from public has been the source of speculation for a few weeks, but word from Asia says there is likely nothing sinister about his fate. CNBC reports that Ma has gone low key in a bid to smooth relations with the Chinese government.

In late December Chinese regulators rejected plans for an IPO for Ma’s Ant Group meant to raise $30 billion. Ant Group is a spinoff of Ma’s work as Alibaba founder, but he is no longer a member of the executive team for the e-commerce firm. As executive chairman of Alibaba three years ago, he led the company to sign a 12-year worldwide sponsorship with the IOC. The company is providing cloud-based data services as well as e-commerce.

A business executive familiar with Alibaba and Ma tells Around the Rings that international media are placing too much significance behind Ma’s quiet time. The source speculates that Ant Group is likely to emerge as a stronger firm from the added scrutiny from Chinese authorities.Alibaba owns a one-third stake in Ant Group.

In other developments involving Ma’s business, this week the Trump administration took initial steps to ban use of the Alipay and WeChat applications in the U.S. The apps, owned by Ant Group, are labeled a security risk in the executive order signed by President Trump, due to take effect in 45 days.

IOC President Thomas Bach and Ma have met a number of times during the Alibaba sponsorship. Bach said in 2019 during a visit to IOC headquarters in Lausanne by Ma that he welcomes the businessman’s involvement in the Olympics.

"Jack is always giving me good advice and leading me in the right direction when it comes to the great potential this digital world is offering for us. For us it’s not a challenge, it’s a huge, huge opportunity how we can reach even further with our message, how we can get access to our fans and also to our not yet fans in a more direct way, and in this Alibaba and Jack are key," Bach says in a release about the meeting.

"My view is that we have to bring the Olympic Games anywhere, anytime, to anybody, and we have to connect the fans to each other and let them get involved," Ma is quoted in the same release from the IOC.

"We believe in the future. We believe that if we work together, if we create value for others, if we can use technology to enable others to have more jobs, then things will be better," said Ma.

Reported by Ed Hula.