Jack Ma, China's most recognizable entrepreneur and the co-founder of Alibaba Group, has resurfaced after months of being out of the public eye. Jack Ma had mysteriously 'disappeared' for months after Beijing's aggressive crackdown on his business empire.
"#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," tweeted Qingqing Chen, Chief Reporter of Global Times News, a China state-affiliated media on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, the Alibaba and Ant co-founder - dressed in a navy pullover - met a 100 rural teachers in China via a live video meeting in his first appearance since October.
"Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a firmer resolution to devote ourselves to education philanthropy," Mr Ma said in the video, according to a Bloomberg report. "Working hard for rural revitalization and common prosperity is the responsibility for our generation of businessmen."
News of Jack Ma's reappearance instantly created a buzz on social media. Here is how Twitter reacted:
Over the last couple of months, Jack Ma's disappearance from public life had prompted a flurry of memes and conspiracy theories on social media.
A video of his lookalike had also gone viral online
According to Reuters, Ma's public appearance comes as Alibaba plans to raise at least $5 billion through the sale of a US dollar-denominated bond this month.
Alibaba is also the target of an antitrust investigation launched last month by Chinese authorities, who have in recent months accelerated a crackdown on anticompetitive behaviour in China's booming internet space.
