Jack Ma was just seen having dinner in Thailand hours before he gave up his business. The billionaire clashed with Chinese regulators in 2020, who then cracked down on his companies Alibaba and Ant Group. Ma has largely disappeared from the public eye and was last seen in Japan in November 2022. Something is loading.
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Jack Ma, the Chinese billionaire founder of Alibaba and Ant Group, has just resurfaced in Thailand after disappearing from the public eye and just hours before handing over control of his company.
Ma was last seen in Japan in November 2022, where he is believed to have lived for six months after disappearing from public view following a Chinese crackdown on his businesses.
Ma became China’s richest man through his highly successful businesses and established himself as a well-known face across China and the global business community.
But China began to crack down on his empire in 2020 when he criticized his regulators, launching an investigation into his e-commerce giant, Alibaba, and halting the IPO of Ant Group, his fintech company.
Ma has rarely been seen in public since then, leading to rumors that he was missing before making a few appearances.
Here is a timeline of Ma’s rise and fall.