Jack Ma, born Ma Yun in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, is undisputedly one of today’s most influential entrepreneurs. His success, however, did not come as easily as some may expect. He was rejected from dozens of jobs, including one at KFC in which he was the only applicant out of 24 not accepted. He failed his college entrance exam two times, only being admitted to Hangzhou Normal University on his third try. Even in regards to entrepreneurship, Ma’s first few endeavors were unsuccessful. But none of this prevented him from moving forward in his ventures. “The best way to solve a problem is with a great attitude” As Jack Ma himself said, “Then you’ll succeed”
Ma’s story began when President Richard Nixon visited his hometown of Hangzhou in 1972, sparking an increase in tourism in the area. Having been interested in English at a young age, Jack Ma worked as an interpreter for English-speaking tourists in Hangzhou. This was also when he received the nickname “Jack” from a foreigner he helped to guide.
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in English (once he had passed the university’s entrance exam), Ma taught English at Hangzhou Dianzi University, and even founded a translation agency focused on providing English translation and interpretation for Chinese.
In the year 1995, Jack was sent on a trip to the United States where he was introduced to the Internet. Upon his return to China, Ma founded China Pages - one of China’s first Internet companies. He left this company in 1997, mainly because of competition from a rival, Chinesepage. Two years later, Alibaba Group was founded following Jack’s work at a government agency in Beijing. Alibaba was an online marketplace where people could buy products directly, a service Jack had noticed China was missing. In a matter of months, the company had raised millions of dollars in investments from companies around the world.
In 2003, Ma created Taobao - another customer-to-customer online market. At the time, he was competing with eBay in China, and Alibaba group was still relatively new. Jack understood the Chinese market better than eBay did, however, and eventually surpassed eBay both in popularity and market share. Instead of charging transaction fees as eBay did, Taobao made money through online ads and other services to users. In 2006, with a billion-dollar investment from Yahoo, Taobao finally won the “war” it was fighting within the Chinese e-commerce market.
In 2019, Jack stepped down as CEO of the company, remaining on the executive board to ensure a smooth transition of leadership. “This transition,” Jack said in a letter to customers and shareholders, “demonstrates that Alibaba has stepped up to the next level of corporate governance from a company that relies on individuals, to one built on systems of organizational excellence and talent development”. The billionaire’s story, however, is far from over. Jack continues to stay active both in the business and political world, working to promote peace and globalization with nations throughout the world. “We have to actively prove that trade helps people to communicate,” he said, “and we should have fair trade, transparent trade, inclusive trade.”
Written by: Serena Li
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