Jack Ma is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. He is one of the wealthiest people in China and was ranked at #17 in the Forbes Billionaires 2020 list with an estimated net worth of $59.3 Billion. From being a famous business magnate to playing the role of investor and philanthropist, he is a self-made billionaire whose story is worth sharing around the globe.

 

Growing up poor in communist China, Jack Ma failed to clear his university-entrance exam twice and was rejected from several jobs, including KFC, before setting a successful foot on his third internet company, Alibaba.

 

Although as simple or straightforward as it may sound, he has had it hard in his early stages to get to where he is today. Jack Ma, who has impacted the entire economy and internet industry of China more or less single-handedly.

 

Jack Ma deviated from conventional methods to give his country the benefits of Internet-based commerce. He lacked any technology and computing background and that makes his success even more astounding than the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. When he started his career as an English teacher, few could have predicted him to become an internet mogul. Jack Ma is the kind of exceptional and talented leader who redefines the path of success. His true rags-to-riches story will definitely be the one that inspires you in your darkest days.

 

Jack Ma was born and raised in Hangzhou, in China’s Zhejiang Province. His zeal to enhance his aptitude and acquire new skills was evident from childhood. As a teenager, he started communicating with foreign tourists to enhance his English skills. He entered the Hangzhou Normal University and completed graduation in English. Later in his life, he attended the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing.

 

He forayed into website making when the concept was in its infancy in China. In 1995, he started an online business when computers had not yet become a household item in China. Despite being deemed risky, his determination was unaffected. Thus China Pages, possibly the first officially registered web business of China was set up.

 

The Yellow Pages website was not a resounding success, prompting Jack Ma to join the commerce ministry for a period. After shifting back to Hangzhou, in 1999 he set up Alibaba as a B2B marketplace site Alibaba.com enabled Chinese exporters to connect with overseas buyers. Ma managed to attract SoftBank and Goldman Sachs as investors later.

 

After consolidating the position of Alibaba, Ma shifted focus to the consumer-to-consumer platform. Taobao was formed in 2003. His strategy to keep it free affected the profits and drew widespread criticism, but Ma was unruffled. Taobao gained a majority of market share in two years. The courage to take on an established giant like eBay and emerge a winner is no mean feat.

Alibaba's 2014 IPO in New York set a record as the world's biggest public stock offering, raising $25 billion.

 

In September 2019, Jack Ma stepped down as Alibaba's executive chairman and was succeeded by CEO Yong Zhang, also known as Daniel Zhang.

 

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.

 

News outlets noted a lack of public appearances from Ma between October 2020 and January 2021, coinciding with a regulatory crackdown on his businesses. 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 in which Ma criticized China’s regulators and called the country’s banks “pawn shops”. “Mortgages and guarantees are for a pawnshop, but if we go to extremes in relying solely on collateral assets, certain enterprises will pledge all of their assets, and the pressure [for them] is enormous,” he had said in October 2020.

 

On Nov. 3, 2020, regulators halted a planned IPO of fintech giant Ant Group-where Ma is the largest individual shareholder-in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The Financial Times reported the abrupt cancellation of the Ant Group's anticipated Initial public offering (IPO) after an intervention by financial regulators. According to Chinese bankers and officials, financial stability was the objective behind the intervention. Some commentators speculated that Ma may have been a victim of forced disappearance, while others speculated that he could be voluntarily lying low. 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.

 

" Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine." ― Jack Ma

 

You can also watch this video made by Roger Hamilton on- Jack Ma Missing - Arrested or 'Laying Low'? https://fb.watch/3YrQ8ic0WM/

Take a look and do drop in your comments below. 🙏