The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba got a boost Wednesday from the return of its elusive founder Jack Ma.
Ma has been out of the public eye save for rare appearances since 2020, when he disappeared for over three months after making comments critical of the Chinese government’s crackdown on tech firms. His critiques were fired at regulators who suspended the $37 billion IPO of his fintech empire. In the past several years, the billionaire entrepreneur has been spotted in Thailand, Japan, Australia, and Spain. In late 2023, he quietly started a pre-packaged meals company.
But on Wednesday, Ma made a splash across international headlines after sending an encouraging internal memo — allegedly his longest message in five years — to Alibaba employees, which was translated by CNBC. “Over the past year, amid external and internal doubt and pressures, I have witnessed the birth of a strong and courageous Alibaba team,” he wrote. Ma was likely referencing Alibaba’s massive overhaul in 2023, when the company replaced top managers and split its businesses into six units to enhance its growth and align with China’s anti-monopoly vision for the tech sector.
Ma’s encouragement Wednesday bumped up Alibaba’s stock price 2% to nearly $75 at market close. Shares of the Chinese internet giant are still significantly lower than their peak around $300 in 2020.
It’s not the first time a Jack Ma appearance has boosted the internet giant’s share price. After his disappearance in 2020, CNBC reported that Ma was “lying low,” not missing, and Alibaba stock jumped 5%. Shares again jumped, this time by 5.5%, when Ma was spotted giving a talk at a school in Hangzhou, China in early 2023.
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