Jack Ma makes rare public appearance at Alibaba Hangzhou campus to discuss philanthropy, agriculture tech
- A photo published by China Philanthropy Times on Weibo showed the Alibaba founder seated with around 20 other employees in a meeting room in Hangzhou
- Ma’s whereabouts are of keen interest to the general public and investors alike
Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma made a rare public appearance at the company’s Hangzhou campus on Tuesday, discussing philanthropy and agricultural technology with employees, according to a social media post by China Philanthropy Times.
Ma has kept a low profile since a controversial speech in Shanghai in October 2020, just days before Ant Group’s mega-initial public offering was called off. Ant is the fintech affiliate of Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post.
Ma’s whereabouts are of keen interest to the general public and investors alike. Earlier this month, a mistaken-identity incident triggered a sell-off in Alibaba shares after investors feared that an arrested person in Hangzhou surnamed Ma was the billionaire. Chinese state media later clarified that the person arrested was not the entrepreneur.
Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via email.
In an interview given in June last year, Joe Tsai, a co-founder of Alibaba, said Ma was “lying low right now” while taking up new hobbies such as painting. “I talk to him every day … he’s actually doing very, very well,” Tsai said. “I think you have to separate what’s happening to Jack and what’s happening to our business.”
Ma has been focusing on philanthropy and agriculture since he resigned as Alibaba chairman in 2019, although he is still widely viewed as the face of Chinese private entrepreneurship.
