Jack Ma Reportedly Spotted In Australia: Alibaba Co-Founder Resumes Globetrotting As China's Regulatory Pressure Eases

Billionaire Jack Ma, who maintained a low profile amid China’s regulatory crackdown, has since late 2022 gradually resumed globetrotting.

What Happened: Ma, the co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA, is reportedly now in Australia but his exact agenda remains unclear, reported Bloomberg.

In January, he was spotted in Hong Kong for a series of meetings with tech and finance executives.

The tech entrepreneur was spotted at a hotel in Melbourne and was later confirmed to be spending time in the country, according to anonymous sources cited by China's Yicai media. Several pictures of the billionaire also surfaced on social media platforms such as Twitter. However, Benzinga was not able to independently verify their authenticity.

See Also: Xi Jinping Warns Chinese Officials Against Colluding With Big Businesses: No ‘Infiltration Of Capital Into Politics’

According to the report, Ma was close to the Morley family and could potentially be there to meet them. The Morley family in the 1980s played a major role in shaping Ma's future when they invited the then-teenager to visit New South Wales. 

The billionaire then stayed in touch with the Morleys and also set up a $20 million university scholarship fund in his late mentor Ken Morley's name in 2017.

Alibaba's co-founder has maintained a low profile after Xi Jinping‘s administration, in 2020, singled out Ant Group’s $37 billion IPO, which set off a broad regulatory crackdown on Chinese tech groups, including billions in fines and regulatory overhauls for the tech giant.

Last week, China Renaissance Holdings Ltd, in a market update, said it had not been able to reach its chief executive Bao Fan in recent days.

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