Alibaba jumps 5% after CNBC reports founder Jack Ma is lying low, not missing

• Alibaba jumped 5% on Tuesday after CNBC’s David Faber reported that its billionaire founder Jack Ma is not missing, but is instead lying low.
• On Monday, Alibaba fell as much as 3% following a string of reports that Ma hasn’t been seen in public for more than two months and had been abruptly replaced on a business TV show he was scheduled to judge.
• Ma’s Alibaba and Ant Group have been subject to increasing regulatory pressure from the Chinese government just weeks after Ma made statements that were critical of the country’s financial regulatory system.
• Watch Alibaba trade live here.

Alibaba jumped as much as 5% on Tuesday after CNBC’s David Faber reported that its billionaire founder Jack Ma is not missing, but is instead lying low. 

“He’s not missing,” Faber said, adding “what I can tell you is that he’s very likely in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is headquartered, and is being less-visible, purposefully…but that doesn’t mean that he’s missing.”

Alibaba slid as much as 3% on Monday following reports that Ma hadn’t been seen in public for more than two months and missed a previously scheduled appearance on a business competition TV show he was set to judge.

In recent months, Ma’s Ant Group and Alibaba have come under increasing regulatory pressure from Chinese authorities. 

Read more: A crypto CEO breaks down why he would not be surprised to see Bitcoin and Ethereum rise at least 100% in 2021 – and says the current sell-offs are a ‘very natural and healthy thing’

Ant Group’s planned November IPO was scrapped after the Chinese government amped up its regulatory pressure on the fintech giant. The company is now grappling with new rules that could potentially alter its business model.

Alibaba also suffered A probe into the e-commerce giant’s seller exclusivity tactics was opened in December as the company is now being investigated by authorities for antitrust violations.

The ramp up in regulatory pressure in Ma’s businesses came weeks after Ma criticized China’s financial regulatory system at a conference in Shanghai. Ma reportedly dismissed the China’s global financial regulations as “an old people’s club” and said that “we can’t use yesterday’s methods to regulate the future.”