One could also apply this the other way around – when the "disappearance" started getting news coverage, why not just pop up to say hi? Did he really miss all t

One could also apply this the other way around – when the "disappearance" started getting news coverage, why not just pop up to say hi? Did he really miss all that news coverage about his own disappearance? Occam's razor might suggest there's a reason why he didn't. My guess, applying this both ways, is that he's been ill or having some treatment or been in hospital, and that perhaps if it was bad, the calculation came out that disappearance rumours were better than "Jack Ma on his death bed" stories.