Alibaba founder Jack Ma is living in Tokyo nearly six months after disappearing from public view following China’s crackdown on the tech sector, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing multiple unnamed sources.
The billionaire has kept a low profile since the crackdown, with Chinese regulators quashing the IPO of Ma’s Ant Group and issuing Alibaba with record fines.
But the FT said she has spent the past six months with her family on trips to the United States and Israel, as well as Tokyo and other parts of Japan.
The British newspaper said Ma has visited several private members’ clubs in Tokyo, and has become an “enthusiastic collector” of Japanese modern art, as well as looking to expand his business interests into sustainability.
Ma has been seen elsewhere since effectively disappearing from public view in China last year, including on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
In recent years, Chinese authorities have targeted alleged anti-competitive practices by some of the country’s biggest names, driven by fears that dominant internet companies control too much data and expand too quickly.
This July, a report said Ma planned to hand over control of Ant Group to appease Chinese regulators and revive the initial public offering of the digital payments unit.
His e-commerce giant Alibaba reported flat revenue growth in August for the first time, as China grapples with an economic slowdown and resurgent Covid-19 cases.
US authorities have put the company on a watch list that could see it delisted in New York if it does not comply with disclosure orders, causing its shares to tumble.