Alibaba Shares Move Higher as Jak Ma is No Longer Considered Missing

Jack Ma, the co-founder of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, was reported to be missing in media reports recently.

According to a CNBC report on Tuesday however, Jack Ma is not “missing.” CNBC’s David Faber said that Ma is not “missing”, in the sense that his location is unknown, but is rather “lying low” in terms of his public appearances in the hope that he can ride-out the current government backlash.

Ma has not been seen, nor has made public comments, since November. He had recently angered President Xi Jinping with a speech in October that attacked the government’s role in blunting creativity and innovation in the tech sector.

After the speech, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation launched an anti-trust investigation in Alibaba and ruined the IPO plans of its online banking subsidiary, Ant Group.

“He’s not missing,” Faber said. “I haven’t seen Jack Ma in quite some time, but I have interviewed him many times, but what I can tell you is that he’s very likely in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is headquartered, and is being less-visible, purposefully … but that doesn’t mean that he’s missing.”

“He hasn’t been captured, he hasn’t been taken and there’s no expectation that the government is going to move on him in some way,” Faber said.

Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares rose 5.5% over the Tuesday following the comments.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.