Jack Ma’s video chat prompts a US$58bil sigh of relief

A video recording of a livestream of Ma addressing teachers at an annual event he hosts to recognise rural educators, on a laptop computer. Ma has resurfaced after months out of public view that fueled intense speculation about the plight of the billionaire grappling with escalating scrutiny over his Internet empire. — Bloomberg

He appeared for less than a minute and said nothing about the Chinese government clampdown that had left his business empire in crisis.

But for investors who’d been waiting months to catch a glimpse of Jack Ma, the entrepreneur’s participation in a livestreamed video conference on Wednesday was enough to trigger a US$58bil (RM233.76bil) sigh of relief. That’s how much Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s market value soared after a clip of Ma speaking to a group of teachers began circulating online – his first public comments since disappearing from view late last year.