Chinese media sources say the billionaire founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba appeared in Australia this month. The allegations cited a group shot in which he was with an Australian family, and the relationship between the two could trace back more than 40 years.

Ma is currently in Australia, according to domestic news outlet yicai.com, which cited an unnamed source on Sunday.

Some social media users in a Melbourne hotel recently spotted Ma. They snapped a photo of Ma looking at his phone while sipping Coke.

The late Ken Morleyand his family visited Ma's birthplace, Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, in 1980, which is also where Alibaba's headquarters are today. This was the beginning of Ma's relationship with the Australian family, the Morleys.

Young Ma was taken to Australia by Morley in 1985 for his first vacation abroad, during which he spent nearly a month in Newcastle. The Chinese tycoon later said that this experience "completely transformed" his future.

AsMorley's friendship and guidance profoundly impacted Ma. As a result, he donated $20 million to the University of Newcastle to support its students.

According to the University of Newcastle website, Ma's goal is to provide students the chance to develop into internationally aware, socially concerned citizens while also making lifetime friendships like the ones he made with the Morley family in Newcastle.

Ma's whereabouts have come under increasing media scrutiny since he abruptly left Alibaba's board of directors.

Ma no longer serves as executive chairman of Alibaba and has resigned from the board of directors. Still, he remains a lifelong member of the Alibaba Partnership.