Jack Ma

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Jack Ma
马云

Ma in 2018
10 September 1964 (age 57)
Born
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Education Hangzhou Normal University (BA)
 Business magnate
 investor
Occupation
 philanthropist

Known for Co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group

Title Co-founder of Yunfeng Capital
Political party Communist Party of China[1]
Spouse(s) Zhang Ying
Children 3
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 马云
Traditional Chinese 馬雲
Transcriptions

Jack Ma Yun[a] (Chinese: 马云; pinyin: Mǎ Yún; born 10 September 1964) is a Chinese business
magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of
Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. In addition, he co-founded Yunfeng
Capital, a private equity firm. Ma is a strong proponent of an open and market-driven economy.

In August 2014, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Jack Ma had a net worth of
US$21.8 billion, making him the richest man in China.[3] In 2017, Ma was ranked second in the
annual "World's 50 Greatest Leaders" list by Fortune.[4] He has widely been considered as an
informal global ambassador for Chinese business, and is an influential figure for the community
of startup businesses.[5] In September 2018, he announced that he would retire from Alibaba and
pursue educational work, philanthropy, and environmental causes;[6][7][8][9] the following year,
Daniel Zhang succeeded him as executive chairman.[10]

As of March 2022, with a net worth of $37.1 billion, Ma is the fifth-wealthiest person in China
(after Zhong Shanshan, Ma Huateng, Zeng Yuqun and Zhang Yiming), as well as one of the
wealthiest people in the world, ranked 35th by Bloomberg Billionaires Index.[2] In 2019, Forbes
named Ma in its list of "Asia's 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy" for his work supporting
underprivileged communities in China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.[6][11] In April 2021,
Jack Ma ranked 26th in the "2021 Forbes Global Rich List" with a fortune of US$48.4 billion.[12]

Ma has reportedly been seen in public only twice since October 2020, fostering speculation
regarding his whereabouts.

Contents
 1 Early life and education
 2 Business career
o 2.1 Early career
o 2.2 Alibaba IPO
o 2.3 Chair of Alibaba Group
o 2.4 Disappearance from the public eye
 3 Entertainment career
 4 Awards and honors
 5 Views
 6 Philanthropy
 7 Family and personal life
 8 See also
 9 Notes
 10 References
 11 External links

Early life and education

Jack Ma was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. He began studying English at a young age by
conversing with English-speakers at Hangzhou International Hotel. For nine years, Ma would
ride 27 km (17 miles) on his bicycle to give tourists tours of the area to practice his English. He
became pen pals with one of those foreigners, who nicknamed him "Jack" because he found it
hard to pronounce his Chinese name.[13]

Later in his youth, Ma struggled attending college. Ma failed the entrance exam for the
Hangzhou Teachers College twice as his weak point was mathematics.[14] The Chinese entrance
exams, held annually, took Ma three years to pass. Ma attended Hangzhou Teacher's Institute
(currently known as Hangzhou Normal University) and graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of
Arts in English.[15][16] While at school, Ma was head of the student council.[17] After graduation, he
became a lecturer in English and international trade at Hangzhou Dianzi University. He also
claims to have applied ten times to Harvard Business School and got rejected each time.[18]

Business career

Play media
Jack Ma on the future of online trade and globalization at the World Economic Forum 2017

Early career

According to Ma's autobiographical speech,[19] after graduating from Hangzhou Normal

University in 1988, Ma applied for 31 different odd jobs and was rejected by every one. "I went
for a job with the KFC; they said, 'you're no good'", Ma told interviewer Charlie Rose. "I even
went to KFC when it came to my city. Twenty-four people went for the job. Twenty-three were
accepted. I was the only guy [rejected]...".[20] During this period, China was in its first decade of
Deng Xiaoping's Chinese economic reform.

In 1994, Ma heard about the Internet and also started his first company,[21] Hangzhou Haibo
Translation Agency (杭州海波翻譯社). In early 1995, he went to the US on behalf of the
municipal government with colleagues who had helped introduce him to the Internet.[21]
Although he found information related to beer from many countries, he was surprised to find
none from China. He also tried to search for general information about China and again was
surprised to find none. So he and his friend created an "ugly" website related to China.[22] He
launched the website at 9:40 AM, and by 12:30 PM he had received emails from some Chinese
investors wishing to know about him. This was when Ma realized that the Internet had something
great to offer. In April 1995, Ma and He Yibing (a computer teacher) opened the first office for
China Pages, and Ma started their second company. On 10 May 1995, they registered the domain
chinapages.com in the United States. Within three years, the company had made 5,000,000
Renminbi which at the time was equivalent to US$800,000.
Ma began building websites for Chinese companies with the help of friends in the US. He said
that "The day we got connected to the Web, I invited friends and TV people over to my house",
and on a very slow dial-up connection, "we waited three and a half hours and got half a page", he
recalled. "We drank, watched TV and played cards, waiting. But I was so proud. I proved the
Internet existed".[23] At a conference in 2010, Ma revealed that he has never actually written a
line of code nor made one sale to a customer. He acquired a computer for the first time at the age
of 33.[24]

From 1998 to 1999, Ma headed an information technology company established by the China
International Electronic Commerce Center, a department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and
Economic Cooperation. In 1999, he quit and returned to Hangzhou with his team to found
Alibaba, a China-based business-to-business marketplace site in his apartment with a group of 18
friends.[25] He started a new round of venture development with 500,000 yuan.

Jack Ma at 2007 China Trust Global Leaders Forum

In October 1999 and January 2000, Alibaba won a total of a $25 million foreign venture capital
investment from Goldman Sachs and Softbank.[21] The program was expected to improve the
domestic e-commerce market and perfect an e-commerce platform for Chinese enterprises,
especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to address World Trade Organization
(WTO) challenges. Alibaba became profitable three years later. Ma wanted to improve the global
e-commerce system and from 2003 he founded Taobao Marketplace, Alipay, Ali Mama and
Lynx. After the rapid rise of Taobao, eBay offered to purchase the company. However, Ma
rejected their offer, instead gathering support from Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang with a $1
billion investment.

Alibaba IPO

In September 2014 it was reported Alibaba was raising over $25 billion in an initial public
offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange.[26] Alibaba became one of the most valuable
technology companies in the world after raising the full $25 billion, the largest initial public
offering in US financial history.

Chair of Alibaba Group

Ma served as executive chairman of Alibaba Group, which is a holding company with nine major
subsidiaries: Alibaba.com, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall, eTao, Alibaba Cloud Computing,
Juhuasuan, 1688.com, AliExpress.com, and Alipay. In November 2012, Alibaba's online
transaction volume exceeded one trillion yuan. Ma stepped down as the chief executive officer of
Alibaba on 10 May 2013 but remained as the executive chairman of the corporation. As of 2016,
Ma is the owner of Château de Sours in Bordeaux, Chateau Guerry in Côtes de Bourg and
Château Perenne in Blaye, Côtes de Bordeaux.[27]

On 9 January 2017, Ma met with United States President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower,
to discuss the potential of 1 million job openings in the following five years through Alibaba's
business interests in the United States of America.[28] On 8 September 2017, to celebrate
Alibaba's 18th year of establishment, Ma appeared on stage and gave a Michael-Jackson-inspired
performance. He performed part of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" at the 2009 Alibaba
birthday event while dressed as a heavy metal lead singer.[29] In the same month, Ma also
partnered with Sir Li Ka-shing in a joint venture to offer a digital wallet service in Hong Kong.
[30]

Ma announced on 10 September 2018 that he would step down as executive chairman of Alibaba
Group Holding in the coming year.[31] Ma denied reports that he was forced to step aside by the
Chinese government[32] and stated that he wants to focus on philanthropy through his foundation.
[33]
Daniel Zhang would then lead Alibaba as the current executive chairman.[34]

Ma officially stepped down from the board of Alibaba on 1 October 2020.[35]

Disappearance from the public eye

News outlets noted a lack of public appearances from Ma between October 2020 and January
2021, coinciding with a regulatory crackdown on his businesses.[36] The Financial Times reported
that the disappearance may have been connected to a speech given at the annual People's Bank of
China financial markets forum,[37] in which Ma criticized China's regulators and banks.[37] In
November 2020, the Financial Times reported the abrupt cancellation of the Ant Group's
anticipated[38] initial public offering (IPO)[39] after an intervention by financial regulators.
According to Chinese bankers and officials, financial stability was the objective behind the
intervention.[37] Some commentators speculated that Ma may have been a victim of forced
disappearance,[40][41][42][43] while others speculated that he could be voluntarily lying low.[40][44] Ma
made a public appearance again on 20 January 2021, speaking via video link to a group of rural
teachers at a charitable event, the annual Rural Teacher Initiative.[36][45] In February 2021,
Bloomberg reported that he was seen golfing at the Sun Valley Golf Resort in the Chinese island
of Hainan.[46] In October 2021 Reuters reported Ma was on the Spanish island of Mallorca
shopping at a local store. His superyacht was anchored in the Port of Andratx.[47]

Entertainment career
In 2017, Ma made his acting debut with his first kung fu short film Gong Shou Dao. It was
filmed in collaboration with the Double 11 Shopping Carnival Singles' Day. In the same year, he
also participated in a singing festival and performed dances during Alibaba's 18th-anniversary
party.[48][49][50]
In November 2020, in the finale of Africa’s Business Heroes, Ma was replaced as a judge in the
television show, with Alibaba executive Peng Lei taking his place, reportedly "Due to a schedule
conflict".[51]

Awards and honors

 In 2004, Ma was honored as one of the "Top 10 Economic Personalities of the Year" by
China Central Television (CCTV).[52]
 In September 2005, the World Economic Forum selected Ma as a "Young Global
Leader".[52]
 Fortune also selected him as one of the "25 Most Powerful Businesspeople in Asia" in
2005.[52]
 Businessweek also selected him as a "Businessperson of the Year" in 2007.[53]
 In 2008, Barron's featured him as one of the 30 "World's Best CEOs"[54]
 In May 2009, Time magazine listed Ma as one of the world's 100 most powerful people.
In reporting Ma's accomplishments, Adi Ignatius, former Time senior editor and editor-
in-chief of the Harvard Business Review, noted that "the Chinese Internet entrepreneur is
soft-spoken and elf-like—and he speaks really good English" and remarked that
"Taobao.com, Mr. Ma's consumer-auction website, conquered eBay in China."[55] He was
also included in this list in 2014.[56]
 BusinessWeek chose him as one of China's Most Powerful People.[57]
 Forbes China also selected him as one of the Top 10 Most Respected Entrepreneurs in
China by in 2009. Ma received the 2009 CCTV Economic Person of the Year: Business
Leaders of the Decade Award.
 In 2010, Ma was selected by Forbes Asia as one of Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy for his
contribution to disaster relief and poverty.[58]
 In 2011, it was announced that one of his companies had gained control of Alipay,
formerly a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, so as to "comply with Chinese law governing
payment companies in order to secure a license to continue operating Alipay.[59]
 Numerous analysts reported that Ma sold Alipay to himself below market value without
notifying the board of Alibaba Group or the other major owners Yahoo and Softbank,
while Ma stated that Alibaba Group's board of directors were aware of the transaction.
The ownership dispute was resolved by Alibaba Group, Yahoo! and Softbank in July
2011.[60]
 Ma was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology in November 2013.[61]
 Ma was a board member of Japan's SoftBank (2007–2020)[62] and China's Huayi Brothers
Media Corporation.[citation needed] He became a trustee of The Nature Conservancy's China
program in 2009 and joined its global board of directors in April 2010.
 In 2013, he became chairman of the board for The Nature Conservancy's China Program;
this was one day after he stepped down from Alibaba as company CEO.[63][64]
 In 2014, he was ranked as the 30th-most-powerful person in the world in an annual
ranking published by Forbes.[65]
 In 2015, Asian Award honoured him with the Entrepreneur of the Year award.[66]
 In 2017, Fortune ranked Ma second on its World's 50 Greatest Leaders list.[67]
 In 2017, a KPMG survey ranked Ma third in global tech innovation visionary survey.[68]
  In October 2017, Ma was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Science in
Technopreneurship from De La Salle University Manila, Philippines.[69]
 In May 2018, Ma was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Social Sciences by the
University of Hong Kong in recognition of his contributions to technology, society and
the world.[70]
 In May 2018, Ma received an honorary doctorate from professors Yaakov Frenkel and
Yaron Oz at the Tel Aviv University.[71]
 In May 2019, Ma and other 16 influential global figures were appointed by Secretary-
General of the United Nations as the new advocates for sustainable development goals.[72]
 In July 2020, Ma received from King Abdullah II a first class medal for his contribution
in fighting back against the COVID-19 pandemic.[73]
 In August 2020, Ma was to receive from the President of Pakistan a Hilal e Quaid e
Azam medal for his contribution in fighting back against the COVID-19 pandemic.[74]

Views
Ma is a follower of both Buddhism and Taoism.[75][76][77]

At the annual general meeting of shareholders for Alibaba.com in May 2010, Ma announced
Alibaba Group would begin in 2010 to earmark 0.3% of annual revenue to environmental
protection, particularly on water- and air-quality improvement projects. Of the future of Alibaba,
he has said, "our challenge is to help more people to make healthy money, 'sustainable money',
money that is not only good for themselves but also good for the society. That's the
transformation we are aiming to make."[78]

On 24 September 2014, in an interview with Taobao, Ma attributed the strength of American

society to its Christian heritage, and expressed his belief in the importance for China to
implement a positive value system, in order to overcome the legacy of the Cultural Revolution.
[79]

In November 2018, the People's Daily identified Ma as a member of the Communist Party of
China, something which surprised observers.[80][81][82]

Ma received international criticism after he publicly endorsed the Chinese work practice known
as the 996 working hour system.[83]

When asked in 2019 to give his views on the future, Ma again stated that 996 was currently a
"huge blessing" necessary to achieve success, but went on to state that artificial intelligence
technology might lead to a better life of leisure in the future, where people would only have to
work four-hour work days, three days a week.[84][85] At the same time, Ma expressed skepticism
that AI could ever completely replace people, referencing to his theory that success requires a
"love quotient" and stating that machines can never match this success. Ma also predicted that
population collapse would become a big problem in the future.[86][87]

Philanthropy
Main article: Jack Ma Foundation

Jack Ma is the founder of the Jack Ma Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on

improving education, the environment and public health.[88]

In 2008, Alibaba donated $808,000 to victims of the Sichuan earthquake.[89] In 2009 Jack Ma
became a trustee of The Nature Conservancy's China program, and in 2010 he joined the global
Board of Directors of the organization.[90]

In 2015, Alibaba launched a nonprofit organization, Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs
Foundation, which supports Hong Kong entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses.[91][92]
In the same year, the company funded the rebuilding of 1,000 houses damaged by the
earthquake-hit in Nepal, and raised money for another 9,000.[93] In 2015 he also founded the
Hupan School,[94] a business school.

In September 2018 Ma started the Jack Ma Foundation and announced that he would retire from
Alibaba to pursue educational work, philanthropy, and environmental causes.[6][7][8][9]

In 2019, Forbes named Ma in its list of "Asia's 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy" and awarded him
the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award for his work supporting underprivileged
communities in China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.[6][11]

In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma
Foundation launched various initiatives, some of which involved donating medical supplies to
the United States as well as various countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe.[95][96]

Family and personal life

Ma was born to a family of limited means. At university he met Zhang Ying (Chinese: 张瑛),
also known as Cathy Zhang, a fellow student, also from the Hangzhou area. They married shortly
after graduation in 1988, and alongside working as a Chinese teacher, Zhang was active in the
early development of Ma's businesses and became general manager of the main firm, until 2004.
The couple have three children: a son, Ma Yuankun (also known as Jerry Ma), born in 1992, a
daughter Ma Yuanbao, and one other.[97][98][99]

See also
 Duan Weihong
 Sun Dawu
 Ren Zhiqiang

Notes
1.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Ma.