Jack Ma Skips Cherished TV Show After Beijing Tightens Screws

The billionaire missed an African talent contest he created
Ma’s said to have been advised to remain in China during probe

Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., gestures during an accord signing ceremony with Russian Direct Investment Fund and Mail.ru on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. The 4th annual Eastern Economic Forum, held in Vladivostok, will run from 11-13 September.Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

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By Edwin Chan

January 4, 2021 at 7:33 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Billionaire Ant Group Co. co-founder Jack Ma skipped a recent taping of an African TV program he created, spurring speculation online about his whereabouts and the outcome of an investigation into his internet empire.

Ma hasn’t been seen in public since Chinese regulators torpedoed Ant’s $35 billion IPO, then tightened fintech regulations and launched an antitrust probe into Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. -- all in a span of days. The Financial Times on Friday reported that the showrunners of the Shark Tank-like “Africa’s Business Heroes” replaced him as a judge in a November telecast and removed his photo from the show’s website, around the same time Ma delivered his now-infamous rebuke of the “pawnshop” mentalities of government overseers.