Hall of Fame| Tribute to Jack Ma | Alibaba| Entrepreneur| Self made Asia's Richest| Motivation

Jack Ma Yun (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.
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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.

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.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. While at school, Ma was head of the student council. 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.
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1. He was one of the earliest people in China to connect to the internet

At a time when China wasn’t even connected to the internet and many Chinese weren’t aware of its existence, Ma recognized its potential.

2. He was “kidnapped” on his first trip to Los Angeles

According to a Newsweek article titled “China’s New Rock-Star CEOs”, during Ma’s first visit to the U.S., he was sent to help retrieve a debt for a friend from an American businessman but things turned sour when the American allegedly pulled a gun on Ma and held him against his will.

3. His first ever internet search was for beer

A friend in Seattle let him use the internet for the first time.

4. When Ma was growing up, there were no English classes available

To learn English, Ma listened to radio broadcasts and offered free tours to foreigners at the Hangzhou Hotel in exchange for English lessons.

5. A tourist gave Ma his English name

A tourist in Hangzhou had difficulty pronouncing Ma Yun and gave him the name Jack.

6. The first company that Jack Ma founded was a translation agency

The Hangzhou Hope Translation Agency was established in 1994. It was through this agency that Ma first got the chance to work with foreign businesses that were operating in China.

7. Ma has intimate experience with rejection and failure

Ma didn’t perform well in school and failed the college entrance exam twice. He claims to have been rejected by Harvard ten times. When applying for a job at KFC, he was the only one out of 24 applicants to be denied a job.

8. He looks up to Forrest Gump

Ma has used the film Forrest Gump as inspiration and has often expressed admiration for the title character.

9. He field-tested the name Alibaba on the streets of San Francisco

Ma asked random people on the streets of San Francisco if they knew of Ali Baba, from the folk tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. They all knew of the name and story and Ma decided it was a good name. Also, it starts with “A” so it will always be on top.

10. He was one of Taobao’s first customers

When Taobao first launched, it had no users. Ma and Taobao’s founders bought and sold their own things on the platform to get things rolling and inspire confidence.

11. He doesn’t have a technical background

Ma doesn’t know how to code. In a 2010 interview with Charlie Rose, Ma admitted he only really uses the computer to do simple web browsing and email.

12. Ma is a performer at heart

At Alibaba’s company celebration events throughout the years, Ma has dressed up in outlandish costumes and performed by singing and dancing to pop songs. He’s also really into martial arts and has “defeated” notable action stars including the likes of Donnie Yen and Jet Li.
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