HONG KONG (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 live-streamed video conference on Wednesday (Jan 20) was enough to trigger a US$58 billion (S$76.8 billion) sigh of relief. That's how much Alibaba Group Holding's market value soared after a clip of Mr Ma speaking to a group of teachers began circulating online - his first public comments since disappearing from view late last year.