Ma is a trubiggest e rags-to-riches story . One off the IPO in history, Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma is now the richest man in china, worth an estimated $29.7 billion, which includes his 7.8% stake in Alibaba and a nearly 50% stake in payment processing service Alipay. Jack Ma (a.k.a. Ma Yun) was born on October 15, 1964, in Hangzhou, located in the southeastern part of China. He grew up poor in communist China and knew that without money or connections, the only way he could get ahead was through education. He failed his college entrance exam twice, and was rejected from dozens of jobs, including one at KFC, before finding success with his third internet company, Alibaba.
Here are some of his favorite quotes:
- Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine – The secret to success is to keep your dream alive. You must keep your dream alive because it might come true someday.
- I try to make myself happy, not because I know that if I’m not happy, my colleagues are not happy and my shareholders are not happy and my customers are not happy- CUSTOMERS ARE NUMBER, Jack Ma always puts his customers first and he has a very interesting motto: “Customers first, Employees second, Shareholders third.”
- I want to change history, do something important in my life, and influence individuals like we have with millions of small businesses on Alibaba. Then they love and respect you because you made their life important- As a CEO, Jack Ma has to say no to thousands of opportunities every day. However, he always stays focused because he only considers opportunities that are aligned with the mission of his business.
- The lessons I learned from the dark days at Alibaba are that you’ve got to make your team have value, innovation, and vision. Also, if you don’t give up, you still have a chance. And, when you are small, you have to be very focused and rely on your brain,not your strength – Don’t complain, look for opportunities.
- Before I left China, I was educated that China was the richest, happiest country in the world. So when I arrived Australia, I thought, ‘Oh my God, everything is different from what I was told.’ Since then, I started to think differently- Have passion, right from day 1.
- I got my story, my dream, from America. The hero I had is Forrest Gump… I like that guy. I’ve been watching that movie about 10 times. Every time I get frustrated, I watch the movie. I watched the movie before I came here again to New York. I watched the movie again telling me that no matter whatever changed, you are you- Stay focused, the need to say no.
