Jack Ma Makes First Public Appearance After Months; Livestreams With Rural Educators

Jack Ma, who was believed to be missing, has finally made a public appearance. The Chinese conglomerate entrepreneur appeared on a Livestream where he addressed teachers and rural educators during an annual event, said people familiar with the matter. Ma also said he would be spending more time on philanthropy.

Jack Ma Makes An Appearance

"Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a firmer resolution to devote ourselves to education philanthropy. Working hard for rural revitalization and common prosperity is the responsibility for our generation of businessmen" Jack Ma said at the Livestream event, which was first reported by a local blog.

While speaking at the virtual event with teachers, Jack Ma didn't mention anything about his whereabouts or where he had been for the past many weeks. Moreover, it's still unclear where Ma was during the online event. However, Ant Group confirmed that it was indeed Ma at the Livestream event via an email.

Jack Ma's reappearance has sparked a new turn of events. For one, Alibaba's shares at the Hong Kong stock market surged by 4 percent. Also, Ma's reappearance suppresses the rumors about the Chinese government's investigations into the Ant Group and the Alibaba Group Holding.

#JUSTIN: #JackMa not disappear, here we go: Ma just had a video conference with 100 village teachers on Wednesday morning, saying: after #COVID19, we'll meet each other again https://t.co/cBm1ryZJQr

— Qingqing_Chen (@qingqingparis) January 20, 2021

Where Did Jack Ma Go?

To recall, Jack Ma was believed to be missing for nearly two months. The matters took a serious turn when he didn't appear as a judge for a competitive show which he sponsors. Several reports linked his disappearance with the recent regulations against Ant corporation, which he co-founded along with Alibaba.

Precisely, the Chinese regulators began investigating Ant Group's USD 35 billion IPO and tightening the regulations around the company in November. Plus, the regulators ordered a separate antitrust probe into Alibaba and overhauled Ant Group. Since then, Ma was rumored to be missing.

For now, a lot of details are still missing. No one mentioned where Jack Ma was or why he didn't appear as the judge for the reality show. Ma has been an outspoken citizen, especially against the Chinese governments. And now, his disappearance has sparked a new debate, despite the fact that there are no concrete details of where he was over the past few months.