The co-founder of Alibaba,, Jack Ma; richest man in China and the maker of one of the country’s most successful businesses, will retire from the company next week to focus on philanthropy. Ma, 53 , founded Alibaba in 1999 and developed it into a $420-billion business, which was important in shaping how the Chinese buy and pay for online products. Jack Ma owns a 6.4-per cent stake in the company, giving him a net worth of over $40 billion.
Alibaba, which is widely viewed as Amazon from China, began as an online B2B market, then aggressively grew with the launch of the Taobao 2003 direct-to-consumer market. Alibaba has since expanded to digital media, cloud and a wide range of other industries, and has consolidated its position as an everyday provider with online payment service — Alipay. The company also has a significant share in the Chinese social network Weibo, which is similar to the Twitter platform.
He now serves as the executive chairman of Alibaba’s board of directors, after assigning David Zhang the role of CEO in 2013. NYT reports that Zhang is probably Ma’s successor. Although Ma is one of the first generations of Chinese billionaire businessmen to resign prematurely, he is highly respected in China, where he is known as Master Ma, and his philanthropic work, Jack Ma Foundation, is focused on fostering education among rural Chinese residents.
Jack Ma is popular in China as a rock star. Not so long ago he could not find a job, his company is now conquering the stock market and Wall Street — in a way almost unique in history.
Alibaba’s name had fallen on Jack Ma’s mind accidentally. As he was thinking about a name for the future company, he recalled stories about Alibaba and the 40 hooligans. He started questioning the passers-by on the road whether they heard about Alibaba and all responded to him in the affirmative. Then he realised it was the name they knew all over the world. He was right, just like the story, now the whole world knows about the giant Internet sales company — Alibaba.
But Jack’s Country life path so far has been full of obstacles. He twice failed the entrance exam at the Pedagogical College, before 1988 when he was finally received. Finding a job was just as difficult in his case. Apparently fast food chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken did not even want him as a manager.
But although he did not have enough technical knowledge or experience in running a company, he founded his company in 1999 — in a small apartment in Hanhzhou, east of China, where his headquarter still is today. “Our competition is located in Silicon Valley, not in China. They are no smarter than us,” says Jack Ma in a documentary film about him in which he persisted and motivated both himself and his associates.
He got the glory at a time when China was able to push the biggest competitor — Ebay. “It may be that Ebay is a shark in the ocean, but I’m a crocodile from the Yangtze River. If we have to fight in the ocean, then we will lose, but if the battle remains in the river, then we will be the winners,” said Jack Ma in 2005.
But nine years later, the “crocodile” still left domestic waters, crossed the ocean and now lurks on Wall Street. “At the heart of our interest are first customers, then associates and then investors,” says Jack Ma. Jack Ma is a kind of “spiritual father” of Alibaba; he is a visionary who uses every opportunity, and his trading talents have become legendary in the meantime. He is popular and celebrated as a pop star.
Chinese media have written that the company has a nearly religious atmosphere, which in any case contributed to his success as well as his charisma and eccentric performances. He is praiseworthy and also famous for his ability to persuade — he supposedly can sell everything, even what does not yet exist. He makes business decisions based on intuition.
Before going on the stock exchange, Jack Ma had 1.5 per cent of his share in Alibaba transferred to a charity foundation. This father of two children recently expressed his great concern about cancer, both among his family members and among his associates. This is due to the great pollution of the environment in China. “I hope we will soon live in the world of blue skies, clean water and better medical protection,” said Jack Ma. With his foundation, he wants to contribute to this via a better education system in China.
Stefano Virgilli
stefano@virgilli.com
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