Alibabas shares surge to HK$265 as founder Jack Ma reappears

As Alibaba founder Jack Ma rose from the dead, ending weeks of
speculations about his whereabouts, shares in the internet giant soared more
than 8% on Wednesday following his reappearance, AFP reported.  

Ma, one of Asia’s richest people with a fortune estimated at around $58
billion, disappeared from the public eye after he was hauled in front of China’s
regulators for a speech he delivered in October.

In retaliation, Chinese regulators torpedoed his financial group Ant’s
record breaking $37 billion IPO at the last minute. Since then, China ordered
Ant to modify its business model and hack back its lending insurance and wealth
management services.

The disappearance of Ma from the public eye set tongues wagging on his
whereabouts.

Also Read | Chinese billionaire Jack Ma makes first appearance in months amid speculation over whereabouts

Putting an end to all the conjecture, a video clip released by Chinese
news outlets showed Ma addressing village teachers in an online conference as
part of an awards ceremony organised by his charity.

Seeing the billionaire back-in-action, shares in Alibaba soared 8.5% to
HK$265.00 in Hong Kong.

In his virtual speech, Ma appreciated China’s efforts to alleviate poverty
and vowed to dedicate more efforts to the cause.

“My colleagues and I… are even more determined to devote
ourselves to education and public welfare,” he said, according to a
transcript of his speech published by news site Tianmu News.

“China has… entered a new stage of development, and is moving
towards common prosperity,” Ma said.

Both Alibaba and Ant said they will cooperate with regulatory requests.