Kane Wu, Julie Zhu

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – Alibaba (NYSE) Jack Ma is the founder of Group One. His business empire has been largely hidden since a crackdown by regulators began in late 2013. He’s currently in Hong Kong where he met up with his business associates, two sources informed Reuters.

After a speech he delivered in Shanghai last October, in which he criticized China’s financial regulators and kept his profile low, the billionaire from China has now been quiet. This triggered a series of events which led to the cancellation of Ant Group’s massive IPO.

Although Ma only made limited public appearances in China, speculation swirled over his whereabouts. However, one source said that the trip marked Ma’s first visit to Asia’s financial center since October last year.

Alibaba didn’t immediately reply to any requests for comment after its normal business hours. Ma usually responds to comments via company.

Because of confidentiality concerns, it was impossible to identify the source.

Ma, China’s famous and most outspoken entrepreneur once, had dinner with at least “a few”, according to the people.

Ma, who is most based in Hangzhou, an eastern Chinese city, is home to his entire business empire.

Alibaba, in Hong Kong and New York is listed as well.

Three months passed since the former English teacher vanished from public attention. In January, he resurfaced to speak with a group teachers via video. This helped to ease concerns about the unusual disappearance of Mr. English teacher from public view and led to Alibaba shares rising.

Sources close to the company have confirmed that Ma paid a rare visit in May to Alibaba’s Hangzhou campus as part of its annual “Ali Day”, a family and staff event.

Pictures of Ma visiting various greenhouses in Zhejiang’s eastern Zhejiang region, which is home to Ant, and Alibaba, were viralized on Chinese social media.

Alibaba announced the next day that it would spend 100 billion yuan (or $15.5 billion) in 2025 to support “common prosperity”, making them the latest company giants to support President Xi Jinping’s wealth sharing initiative.

Alibaba and its rival tech companies have come under severe regulatory scrutiny for issues that range from monopolistic behavior to consumer rights. In April, the e-commerce giant was hit with a $2.75 Billion record for monopoly violations.

Ant’s $37 billion failed initial public offering in Hong Kong was also halted by regulators earlier this year. The STAR Market, which is Nasdaq-style, and Shanghai’s Nasdaq based STAR Market, would have been the largest worldwide.

($1 = 7.7812 Hong Kong dollars)