Jack Ma – Billionaire CEO of Alibaba

• Born in China in 1964• Wanted to learn English– Worked as a hotel guide for free to practice– Earned a degree to teach English

• Founded China Yellowpages in 1995 (web-based)– One of China’s first internet companies– It failed

• Headed a Chinese government-based technology company– Learned more about web-based business ventures

The Alibaba Story

• Founded Alibaba in 1998– First electronic marketplace in China– Like Amazon, but Business to Business– Started with 18 friends• Convinced them to give him $60,000 to start it up

– Was inspired by the film “Forrest Gump”• Watches the movie whenever he feels frustrated

– Initially felt that small businesses needed an online place to trade, so he created the service

Failures and Fun Facts• He applied for a job at KFC and didn’t get hired• Failed his college entrance exam twice before he

passed• He’s only five feet tall!• Had to create “variable interest equity” in order to

do the Alibaba IPO– Ensures that Chinese companies are wholly-owned by

Chinese interests– Investors won’t actually “own” Alibaba

• They are investing in a company offshoot in the Cayman Islands• This has proven problematic for investors – company has lost

half its value in one year