This Billionaire Criticised China….And Lost $40 Billion | Viral Discussion On ‘Chinese Jeff Bezos’

Last Updated:April 15, 2025, 15:29 IST

Did you know this Chinese billionaire also vanished from an African talent show he produced? It was a hint of the growing challenges he was encountering in his attempt to oppose Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Jack Ma’s public disappearance for nearly three months made headlines. (Photo Credits: X)

Alibaba Group, which began as an online retailer before evolving into a global technology giant, was co-founded by Jack Ma. In 1999, Ma, a former English teacher and 17 other co-founders established Alibaba.com in a tiny apartment in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. Today, it serves almost 800 million people with services such as online commerce, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI).

Did you know that Chinese billionaire Jack Ma mysteriously disappeared for a while? It was an early sign of the growing challenges he faced after speaking out against Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A user on X (previously Twitter) revealed how Jack Ma criticised the Chinese authorities before disappearing for three months. When he returned, he lost – $40 billion – His strong voice – Control over his company, Alibaba.

Read more about the story of the strange disappearance of the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.

In 1999, Jack Ma started an internet marketplace from his apartment. He had been turned down for 30 jobs, including KFC. Twenty years later, he was China’s richest man, at $61 billion.

Alibaba became China’s Amazon, thanks to Jack Ma. In 2020, the total sales for a single day were $74 billion. He hung out with Hollywood celebrities and became a worldwide personality. China was filled with his face and for the Communist Party, that was acceptable. But suddenly, when he started sharing his opinion on challenging the government. That’s when his life turned upside down.

On October 24, 2020, Jack Ma delivered a speech in Shanghai. He labelled the Chinese authorities out of date and slammed the financial sector. It represented a direct challenge to the government.

The world was startled by what followed.

The government quickly cancelled Ant Group’s first public offering (IPO). Ant Group, originally Ant Financial, is an affiliate company of the Chinese corporation Alibaba Group.

This $37 billion IPO was intended to be the biggest in history. After the IPO was IPO, Jack Ma’s fortune plummeted overnight. Following this, he vanished. He could not be found – no social media traces or any appearance.

Rumours circulated that ‘he had been detained’ or else ‘had fled the country’. Despite all of this, Chinese state media stayed silent. With this outbreak, Alibaba’s stock continued to plummet.

In January 2021, Jack Ma resurfaced in a brief video. He appeared thinner, subdued and reading from a script. In the video, he lauded China’s leadership and rural education. He made no mention of his disappearance, even on the disastrous IPO.

Weeks later, Jack Ma was compelled to step down from his position as CEO of Alibaba. He also had to pay a $2.8 billion antitrust penalty and hand over power to state-backed enterprises. Everything was gone his life, after the 20-minute speech.

Today, Jack Ma is rarely seen in public. He has been spotted in Japan, Spain and Thailand. He has taken up art and philanthropy, with a concentration on agricultural ventures.

Location :

Delhi, India, India