Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has mysteriously disappeared as the public face of an African talent show he created, with various reports suggesting there may have beena fall from grace in China after criticising authorities.
According to the Financial Times, 56-year-old Ma was replaced as a judge in the final of Africa's Business Heroes, a Dragon's Den-style TV show for budding entrepreneurs, while his photo also removed from the judging webpage and he was left out of a promotional video.
The final took place back in November - shortly after Ma criticised China's regulators and its state-owned banks in a speech. The Financial Times reports that he was then 'dressed down by officials in Beijing' and had the $37bn initial public offering of his company Ant Group suspended.
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The tech billionaire - who founded multinational technology company Alibaba, which is seen as China's equivalent of Amazon - has also not been seen in public since, and his Twitter timeline uncharacteristically quiet.
A spokesperson for Alibaba said: "Due to a schedule conflict Mr Ma could no longer be part of the finale judge panel of Africa's Business Heroes earlier this year (2020)."
While the final took place towards the end of last year, its broadcast on TV has been delayed until spring, according to a promotional video and two contestants.
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One contestant said she felt starstruck when she pitched her business to Ma in an earlier round.
According to the Financial Times, she said: "You can't imagine."
However, by the time the final came around, Ma had been replaced by Lucy Peng, an executive at Alibaba.
The contestant explained: "There was something going on in China with Jack Ma or something, so [Lucy] also came in as well."
English teacher-turned business magnate Ma is said to have made around £35 billion from creating Alibaba.
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But according to the Daily Mail, he has now slipped to third place in China's rich list, having been overtaken by Colin Huang, Chief Executive and founder of founder of budget e-commerce marketplace Pinduoduo.
Despite being one of China's most successful businessmen, Ma has increasingly clashed with the regime over his preference for more of an open, market-driven economy.
The Daily Mail reports that Chinese authorities have announced an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba.
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