Where's Alibaba's Jack Ma And What's He Up To?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA founder Jack Ma, who has had run-ins with Chinese regulators, has remained out of the public view for some time now.

The former Alibaba boss is keeping a low profile by choice, according to a top exec at the e-commerce giant. 

What Happened: Ma is fine and he is laying low, Alibaba's executive vice chairman and co-founder Joe Tsai said in an interview with CNBC. 

"He's actually doing very, very well. He's taken up painting as a hobby, it's actually pretty good," Tsai told CNBC.

Tsai also said it is only right to separate what is happening to Ma and what is happening to Alibaba's business.

The business is going through restructuring on the financial side of things and has come under the scanner of anti-trust regulation, on account of which it had to pay a fine.

"But we have gotten that behind us," Tsai said.

Tsai said in the interview that Ma is leading a normal life after business and is focusing on philanthropy.

Related Link: Alibaba On The Backfoot? TikTok Parent ByteDance Reportedly Launching In-house Cloud Computing Service

Why It's Important: Earlier this year, Alibaba's Ant Group was forced to organize as a financial holding company, coming under the purview of the Chinese central bank, as part of a regulatory clampdown on technology firms that have forayed into the financial sector.

Ahead of that, regulators imposed a $2.8-billion fine on Ant's parent Alibaba for violating anti-monopoly law.

Late last year, regulators poured cold water on Alibaba's plan for Ant's $34-billion initial public offering on the grounds that the proposed offering may not meet the Chinese stock exchange's listing requirements.

Following the stalling of the IPO, Ma ceased to make public appearances, giving rise to rumors that he has gone missing. In January, the billionaire appeared in a promotional video for a charitable foundation.

At last check, Alibaba shares were down 1.53% at $210.68.

Related Link: HOW TO BUY ALIBABA (BABA) STOCK

Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma. Benzinga file photo by Dustin Blitchok.