Jack Ma

In this Chinese name, the family name is Ma.

Jack Ma
马云
Ma in 2018
Born (1964-09-10) 10 September 1964 (age 60)
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
EducationHangzhou Normal University (BA)
Occupations
  • Business magnate
  • Investor
  • Philanthropist
  • Teacher
Known forCo-founder of Alibaba Group
TitleCo-founder of Yunfeng Capital
Political partyChinese Communist Party[1]
SpouseZhang Ying
Children
See list
    • Yi Jia Zhang (daughter)
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese马云
Traditional Chinese馬雲
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinMǎ Yún
Bopomofoㄇㄚˇ ㄩㄣˊ
Wade–GilesMa3 Yün2
Tongyong PinyinMǎ Yún
IPA[mà y̌n]
Wu
SuzhouneseMô Yúin
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationMáah Wàhn
Jyutpingmaa5 wan4
IPA[ma˩˧ wɐn˩]

Jack Ma Yun (Chinese: 马云; pinyin: Mǎ Yún; born 10 September 1964) is a Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. In addition, Ma is also the co-founder of Yunfeng Capital, a Chinese private equity firm. As of February 2024, with a net worth of $25.6 billion,[2] Ma is the seventh-wealthiest person in China, as well as the 45th wealthiest person in the world, ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.[3]

Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Ma earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English upon graduating from Hangzhou Normal University in 1988. He became an English lecturer and international trade lecturer at Hangzhou Dianzi University following graduation. The rise and expansion of the software and personal-computer industries during the 1980s captured Ma's attention. This led him into the realm of internet entrepreneurship where he embarked on establishing his first business in 1994, subsequently resulting in the formation of a second company upon acquiring a deeper understanding of the internet's emergence and the promising commercial prospects it offered. From 1998 to 1999, he resigned from China Telecommunications Corporation, later starting the Alibaba Group with his colleagues in 1999. The company was initially founded as a B2B e-commerce marketplace website, yet the company later expanded into a wide range of industry domains across the Chinese economy.

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 in Chinese business circles, and has continued to remain an influential figure in the Chinese business community and scene of startup companies.[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][11] In 2020, the Chinese government stopped plans for an IPO called for the digital payment solutions company Ant Group, a company that he founded, after he delivered a speech that criticized Chinese financial regulators for putting too much priority in minimizing risk.[12][13]

In 2019, Forbes Magazine named Ma in its list of "Asia's 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy" for his humanitarian and philanthropic work supporting underprivileged communities in China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.[6][14] In 2024, Jack Ma ranked 8th in Forbes "China’s 100 Richest 2023" list with a fortune of US$25.2 billion.[15] As of November 2024, Ma's net worth was US$25.2 billion, according to Forbes.[16]

  1. ^ "Alibaba's Jack Ma is a Communist Party member, China state paper reveals". CNBC. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Jack Ma - Profile". Forbes. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Jack Ma". Bloomberg. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Theo Epstein". Fortune. 23 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  5. ^ "How Alibaba's Jack Ma Is Building a Truly Global Retail Empire". Fortune. 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Jack Ma Outlines Bold Vision For His Philanthropy Foundation". Forbes. 2 December 2019.
  7. ^ Murphy, Margi (8 September 2018). "China's richest man Jack Ma to stand down from Alibaba". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  8. ^ Chen, Lulu Yilun; Mackenzie, Tom (7 September 2018). "Billionaire Jack Ma prepares for life after Alibaba. He'll retire Monday, report says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Alibaba's Jack Ma, China's richest man, to retire from company he co-founded". The Economic Times. 8 September 2018. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  10. ^ Choudhury, Saheli. "Alibaba announces Jack Ma succession plan: CEO Daniel Zhang to take over as chairman in a year". CNBC. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Jack Ma". Forbes. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  12. ^ "How billionaire Jack Ma fell to earth and took Ant's mega IPO with him". Reuters. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  13. ^ Zhong, Raymond (6 November 2020). "In Halting Ant's I.P.O., China Sends a Warning to Business". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  14. ^ Chung, Grace. "Asia's 2019 Heroes Of Philanthropy: Catalysts For Change". Forbes. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  15. ^ Ho, Jane; Wang, Yue, eds. (6 November 2024). "China's 100 Richest". Forbes. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Jack Ma". Forbes. Retrieved 6 November 2024.