Jack Ma Appears for the First Time in Months in Short Video, Alibaba Shares Jump 5%

January 20, 2021

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has made his first public appearance of 2021, resulting in a 5% jump in Alibaba shares, after more than two months of laying low.

A brief appearance: During an online conference on Jan. 20, the billionaire appeared in a 50-second video to address 100 rural teachers from across China, Markets Insider reports.

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Ma, a former English teacher, created this conference in 2015 to acknowledge outstanding educators in rural areas.
Ma pushed for the return of younger educators to rural areas in order to decrease income disparities, according to Bloomberg.
“Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a firmer resolution to devote ourselves to education philanthropy. Working hard for rural revitalization and common prosperity is the responsibility for our generation of businessmen,” Ma says in the video.
The authenticity of the video has been confirmed by a spokesperson for the Jack Ma Foundation to Insider.

Alleged reason behind Ma’s disappearance: Before this recent videoconference, Ma kept a low-profile for months.

Many people believe he made this decision after publicly criticizing China’s regulatory system during a speech at a Shanghai forum last October, according to Reuters.
Ma claimed that regulatory decisions have stifled innovation, and his comments did not go unnoticed.
Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Group soon faced the suspension of a $37 billion IPO because of Chinese regulators. According to The Australian Financial Review, these regulators also organized an overhaul of Ant.
Due to Ma’s mysterious disappearance, many investors grew worried, resulting in a loss of billions of dollars off Alibaba’s market cap.

Aftermath of the video: After Ma’s reappearance, Alibaba shares jumped 5% at market open, according to Markets Insider.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares also increased by as much as 8.5% as of this writing, adding around $60 billion to Alibaba’s value.
Reuters reported that Ma’s return had a positive effect on investors, especially those in Hong Kong.
Steven Leung, the sales director at UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong, said, “Jack Ma’s reappearance has given investors peace of mind after a lot of rumours, allowing them to pile into the stock which had been a laggard in the market.”
Several social media users on Weibo also discussed the topic “Jack Ma makes his first public appearance,” and Ma’s video address quickly went viral.

Feature Image via @globaltimesnews

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