- Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA founder Jack Ma is starting a teaching position in Japan after dodging the limelight during Beijing's crackdown on tech.
- Ma joined Tokyo College as a visiting professor on May 1 and would research projects in sustainable agriculture and food production and deliver seminars on entrepreneurship, Financial Times reports.
- The business magnate famous for his freewheeling interviews with foreign media disappeared from the public eye after criticizing Chinese regulators in late 2020.
- Ma's criticism followed the last-moment quashing of the blockbuster initial public offering by Alibaba fintech affiliate Ant Group followed by a slew of regulatory action against the country's biggest tech giants, including a record $2.8 billion penalty against Alibaba.
- Ma spent much of 2022 in central Tokyo. Lately, Beijing has voiced the resolution of the regulatory issues with the internet sector to bolster investor and entrepreneurial confidence.
- Ma returned to mainland China in March to support plans by Alibaba's chief executive Daniel Zhang to restructure the group into six separate units to reverse a sluggish share price performance.
- "He is representative of entrepreneurial confidence in the country," said Brian A. Wong, a former Alibaba executive and author of The Tao of Alibaba.
- He considered it a signal that "Alibaba is refreshing." "Jack is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the company after his retirement, but his views and opinions still carry weight and have influence behind the scenes," Wong added.
- Ma gave up his control of Ant Group in January, reducing his stake in the company and paving the way for a possible IPO in Hong Kong or Shanghai.
- Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 0.13% at $84.58 premarket on the last check Monday.
- Photo via Wikimedia Commons
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