Jack Ma: The Alibaba Founder’s Net Worth
| birth date | September 10, 1964 (58 years old) |
| Born in | Hangzhou, China |
| nationality | China |
| Marital status | married to Zhang Ying (since 1988) |
| Profession | entrepreneur |
| Full name | Pinyin Mǎ Yún |
| Children | 2 (Yuankun, Yuanbao) |
| founder | Alibaba |
How rich is Alibaba founder Jack Ma?
Jack Ma is not only one of the richest men in China, but also one of the richest people in the world. After all, Ma founded what is probably the largest online platform in the world, Alibaba. Jack Ma even eclipsed Jeff Bezos’ Amazon. In the meantime, the Alibaba Group has many more Internet companies that are making Ma’s fortune skyrocket. Jack Ma has broken many records. The father of two, who has been married to his wife since 1988, became the first mainland Chinese man to be on the cover of Forbes. Jack Ma’s estimated net worth is $22.25 billion .
English as a road to success
The fact that Jack Ma learned the English language at a very early age was one of his first keys to success. For nine years he offered free city tours to foreigners to improve his English. Ma has maintained this work ethic throughout his meteoric career as an entrepreneur. Ma failed the entrance exam to Hangzhou Normal University three times . However, this did not prevent him from studying there later. During his studies he also met his wife.
He received his bachelor’s degree in English in the same year that he married Ms. Zhang Ying. Initially, Ma worked as a lecturer in English and international trade . In 2006 he was able to secure his degree from the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. Ma then reportedly applied for 30 different jobs and only received rejections. But even these defeats couldn’t stop Jack Ma from becoming one of the richest men in all of China.
Jack Ma makes a career as an entrepreneur
His first company was founded in 1994, when Jack Ma founded the Hangzhou Hope Translation Agency . However, this only happened part-time. As part of this company, Ma hired a number of retired English teachers to earn extra income. Then in 1995, Ma traveled to Seattle to visit a friend. There, Ma had the opportunity to use a computer for the first time and surf the Internet.
Ma’s friend promptly published the contact details of his translation agency on the Internet. It should only take a few hours for the first translation requests to reach Ma via email. This experience shaped Ma so much that he launched his first internet company shortly thereafter. He borrowed part of the money for China Pages from his parents and relatives. In addition to these private loans, Jack Ma also drew on his private savings.
The founding of Alibaba
Then, in 1999, Ma joined with 16 partners and his wife to jointly found Alibaba . The company’s starting capital at the time was just 53,000 euros. In the meantime, the multi-billionaire has already withdrawn from Alibaba’s active business. That Ma has achieved a lot is also shown by the fact that the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, took Ma as an adviser to his side in the autumn of 2015. The fact that Ma is so open about his failures and setbacks makes him an inspiration to many. For example, Ma is said to have been rejected ten times by Harvard University. However, this cannot detract from his professional and financial success.