Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Alibaba, disappeared from public view in 2020. He’s been living in Tokyo for the past 6 months, new reports say.

• Alibaba group founder Jack Ma is now dwelling in Tokyo, the FT reported.

• The as soon as high-profile Ma angered the Chinese language authorities in 2020 and has since vanished from public view.

• Ma remains to be mendacity low in Tokyo and socializes primarily inside personal golf equipment.

As soon as certainly one of China’s richest businessmen, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma principally disappeared from public view two years in the past after a run-in with the authorities. He has now resurfaced in Tokyo, the Monetary Instances reported on Tuesday, citing individuals with direct data of his whereabouts.

Ma, an outspoken teacher-turned-tech titan, was as soon as a high-profile jet-setter who was the face of China’s Large Tech. However he has been laying low since October 2020, after giving a speech criticizing China’s monetary regulatory system.

His phrases angered the Chinese language authorities, prompting intense regulatory scrutiny on his companies, and a wider crackdown on tech corporations the nation.

There was intense hypothesis of Ma’s whereabouts since he vanished from the limelight.

One of the latest sightings of the billionaire was in July this 12 months, when he visited Wageningen College & Analysis in July, the Dutch establishment introduced on its web site.

Though he is been dwelling in Tokyo for almost half a 12 months, Ma has been preserving a low-profile within the metropolis and socializes primarily inside a number of personal members’ golf equipment, per the FT. He additionally spends his time in Japan visiting scorching springs and ski resorts within the countryside along with his household, in line with the media outlet.

Whereas based mostly in Tokyo, Ma has been making common journeys to the US and tech-hub Israel, in line with the FT.

Like China, Japan had among the world’s hardest border controls through the pandemic, however visa-free journey resumed final month. In distinction, Covid lockdowns nonetheless persist in China, resulting in uncommon protests towards the authorities final weekend.

The highlight on Ma’s actions coincided with Beijing’s push for “widespread prosperity” — an idea that the wealthy should share their wealth with the poor to create a extra equal society. The drive that intensified from 2020 has hit massive tech in addition to property corporations, which have been compelled to scale back their debt ranges, as authorities sought to manage excessive dwelling costs.

Story continues

This weighed on Chinese language tech and property corporations, sending the web value of the nation’s richest plunging. Ma, who at his peak was value about $61 billion in October 2020, is now value about $30.7 billion, in line with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That is partially as a result of Alibaba’s share value has fallen about 75% from its 2020 peak.

Ma stepped down because the chairman of Alibaba in 2019. He nonetheless sits on the board of the Jack Ma Basis, which he based.

The inspiration didn’t reply instantly to a request from Insider for remark.

Learn the unique article on Enterprise Insider