Speculation about Jack Ma's whereabouts is mounting, as he has not been seen in public for more than two months.
In late October, the Alibaba co-founder stood by senior officials and delivered a scathing speech criticizing national regulators.
Various sources say that this "angered" Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the months that followed, regulators questioned Ma and other executives and banned what would have been the world's largest offering of shares of his company, Ant Group.
Later, they launched investigations into Alibaba and its main competitor, TenCent, and questioned Ant Group.
In late December, regulators ordered Jack Ma to "destroy" his empire.
His last public appearance appears to have been at a live broadcast on October 31, the opening ceremony of China's annual Double 11 shopping event.
In November, he reportedly did not appear in his role as a judge for the final episode of the show's Entrepreneurs game, "Africa's Business Heroes."
Ma was replaced by another Alibaba executive and his photo was removed from the website.
He also did not attend the Shanghai Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce meeting this year, where he has given a speech every year since 2016.
Bloomberg raportoi që Ma ishte paralajmëruar në fillim të dhjetorit të mos largohej nga vendi. Një hashtag "Ma Yun ndalohet të largohet nga Kina" - duke iu referuar emrit kinez të Ma - ishte censuruar në Weibo, por emri i tij nuk renditet publikisht në asnjë bazë të dhënash kombëtare të njerëzve që u nënshtrohen ndalimeve të tilla.
Nuk ka ende konkluzione të sakta, pasi informacioni nuk është i plotë, por BBC citoi një punonjës të Alibaba-s, që thoshte se "Ma shpesh merr pushime, para vitit të ri kinez, në shkurt".
Martin Chorzempa, një studiues në Institutin Peterson për Ekonomi Ndërkombëtare thotë se kjo është e pritshme:
“Ju s’do donit të ishit në vëmendjen e publikut, kur kompania që keni është në një situatë të komplikuar politike.”
However, the various blows to the Ma empire have all been interpreted as "the Chinese government's attempt to deter a businessman who is crossing the border, as he has become internationally known and is not afraid to publicly criticize the Chinese Communist Party government." ".
Shares in Alibaba on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell 2.15% on Monday.
Source: The Guardian
