Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Becomes Visiting Professor in Japan

Founder of Alibaba group Jack Ma arrives for the Tech for Good summit in Paris on May 15, 2019. Thibault Camus/AP Photo

Jack Ma, the co-founder of Chinese e-commerce Alibaba Group, has taken up a visiting professor position at a research institute affiliated with the University of Tokyo, the university said Monday.

Ma, 58, began his tenure at Tokyo College on that same day, and he will carry out joint research and projects related to sustainable agriculture and food production, the university said in a statement.

The Chinese entrepreneur will also share his “rich experience and pioneering knowledge on entrepreneurship, corporate management, and innovation” with students and faculty through seminars.

It stated that Ma would further advise and support the institute’s major research topics.

Kyodo News reported that his position as a visiting professor at Tokyo College would remain through October.

The Chinese billionaire has been out of the public eye since the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing launched a crackdown on the tech industry in 2020. Ma reportedly returned to China in March.

Last month, he also accepted a three-year honorary professorship at the School of Economics and Management of the University of Hong Kong.

The South China Morning Post reported that Ma will focus on research in finance, agriculture, and innovation entrepreneurship at the university, “but there will be no public lecture or speech arrangement.”

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during Alibaba Group's Initial Public Offering in New York City on Sept. 19, 2014. Andrew Burton/Getty Images

A speech by Ma in early 2020 critical of the CCP’s regulatory system is widely seen as what triggered Beijing’s increased scrutiny of Alibaba, which led to his eventual withdrawal from public events. At the end of 2021, Ma left mainland China and made appearances in Japan, Spain, Australia, and Thailand.

Ma ceded control of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group earlier this year, with the company saying it was changing its ownership structure so that “no shareholder, alone or jointly with other parties, will have control over Ant Group.”

Ma returned to China in March, and Alibaba Group announced that it would split into six units, each with its own board of directors and CEO.  Ten years ago, Ma finished up as Alibaba’s CEO and later retired from his role as executive chairman in 2019. He stepped down from the Alibaba board on Oct. 1, 2020.

Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of China's Alibaba Group, speaks during a news conference in Chiba, Japan, on June 18, 2015. Yuya Shino/Reuters

Pressured to Return to China

A number of international media outlets reported that the CCP authorities had pressured Ma to return to China, hoping to reverse the outside world’s perception of the deterioration of China’s business environment. Ma was reportedly reluctant to go back to China initially.

Hua Chia-cheng, director of Research Division II of the Taiwan Economic Research Institute, told The Epoch Times on March 29 that Ma had possibly negotiated terms with the CCP for his return to China.

Hua said the Chinese entrepreneur could be used as a model for private enterprise owners to boost China’s economic development.

Qiu Wanjun, a professor of finance at Northeastern University in Boston, told The Epoch Times that the CCP may find that China’s economic future was getting “even worse” without Alibaba’s influence.

“In the past few years, the CCP has promoted the advancement of the state and the retreat of the private sector, but the contribution of state-owned enterprises to economic development is far less than that of private enterprises. So now, the regime turns to private enterprises for help,” Qiu said on March 29.

Ma also owns a philanthropic organization, the Jack Ma Foundation, which focuses on entrepreneurship, education, women’s leadership, medical support, and environmental protection.

Alex Wu contributed to this report.