Who is Jack Ma? Why is he talk of the internet?

Jack Ma is a Chinese business tycoon, investor and philanthropist who co-founded Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate and was the executive chairman of the same.

He began his journey as a billionaire when he became interested in the English language and worked as a tourist guide in his teens. According to a Forbes report, he rode his bicycle for 40 minutes to an international hotel in his hometown at 5 AM, to wait for tourists. He proposed a deal with the tourists that in return for showing them around, they would teach him English.

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He applied for 30 jobs but got rejected every time. Later on, he took a job at a local university where he taught English and earned $15 per month. He began a translation company with a few of his friends.

Ma experienced the internet and its capability for the first time in 1995 when he travelled the US. After coming back to China, he decided to build something which would locate China on the world’s internet map.

He started China Pages, a yellow pages website that fell through but in June 1999 he founded Alibaba Group along with his wife and group of friends. In just one year, Alibaba raised $25 million from investors including Goldman Sachs and SoftBank.

After an exemplary trajectory of growth, Alibaba Group grew into other businesses such as movie production, healthcare, sports, retail and news media.

But what has happened that the internet world cannot stop talking about him?

According to a New York Times report, Jack Ma was labelled as a “villain”, an “evil capitalist” and a “bloodsucking ghost” as Chinese officials opened an antitrust investigation into Alibaba Group, contrary to their previous good relations.

The Alibaba founder has ‘disappeared’ which propelled conspiracy theories by netizens, in the spotlight due to his absence from social media, his last post is 10th October 2020.

Also, the Alibaba founder has been reported missing for over two months after he came in conflict with President Xi Jinping-led Central Communist Party government.

The tech giant was set to appear as a judge in the final episode of his own talent show, ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’ but mysteriously did not turn up for it. As a consequence of this, his photographs were removed from the show’s website.

Theories ranging from his arrest to impending policy threats have left the internet in a frenzy.