- Three years after criticizing Chinese regulators, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma remains silent.
- Once a leading figure in Chinese technology, his words infuriated the Chinese government and sparked a crackdown on his business empire.
- Since then, Ma has been busy traveling the world researching high-tech agriculture and making changes for the next phase of his life.
Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma was once the unstoppable poster boy for China's technology world.
This outspoken and flamboyant technology entrepreneur has appeared everywhere from media and conferences to headlining corporate events.
Remember when he was intelligent and outgoing and danced to Michael Jackson in front of a crowd of thousands? He charmed millions of people around the world by appearing to be the opposite of the strict Chinese executives. In short, although Ma himself is a member of the Party, he seems more American than Chinese.
But Ma disappeared from public view in late 2020 after criticizing Chinese regulators, and the Chinese government cracked down on his business. Like many other Chinese CEOs before him, Ma disappeared after losing the support of his party, proving that no one can top President Xi Jinping's regime.
Mr Ma's whereabouts and what he has been up to since his clash with the Chinese government has been subject to widespread public speculation and worldwide speculation, stemming from social media posts, unannounced visits and tips from anonymous sources. It has become the subject of many media headlines.
Now, Ma appears to be debuting a refreshed version of himself in what can truly be called Jack Ma 3.0.
Jack Ma 1.0: A struggling teacher who wanted to join the tech industry
It's easy to see why Ma is equally popular in the United States and China. A classic rags-to-riches story, Mr. Ma's life story resonates with the public.
Mr. Ma (real name Ma) was born into a poor family in Hangzhou, China.
He didn't do well in school. He failed his university entrance exam twice, but passed on his third attempt and entered Hangzhou Normal School.
After graduating from university in 1988, he famously applied for dozens of jobs, including at KFC, and received an equal number of rejections, before finally being hired as an English teacher.
Ma said she loved her job, but it only paid her $12 a month. He is also open about the failures he has encountered throughout his career.
“When I was little – and still am – I never thought I would be here,” Ma said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2018. “Looking back, all the problems I encountered as a child turned out to be good for me.''
I started my career in translation services in 1994, and after a business trip to the United States in 1995, I launched my digital business at the dawn of the Internet.
His first business, China Pages, failed, but in 1999 he gathered 17 friends and founded Alibaba. The site they launched allows exporters to list their products directly on the platform, ushering China into the e-commerce era.
Despite being arguably the most successful Internet entrepreneur of his generation, Ma founded Alibaba without any knowledge of marketing or computers.
But his start as a teacher taught him how to rally troops, identify and develop talent, delegate work and chart a course for Alibaba, he told Davos in 2018.
“He was more of a teacher than a manager,” Brian Wong, Alibaba's 52nd employee, told Business Insider about Ma's management style. Mr. Wong worked at Alibaba for almost 20 years, from 1999 until 2020, with three periods of employment. Most recently, he served as Group Vice President of the company and currently serves as an advisor to Alibaba's division focused on education and training.
“Jack has a side to him that speaks his mind,” Wong said. “For the most part, that's a positive asset in terms of how he's built his business.”
Jack Ma 2.0: The outgoing big tech executive — until he's not
As an Internet entrepreneur, Mr. Ma played a pivotal role in the company's management, and his charisma garnered him the support he needed.
“He is a master at conveying common aspirations that many people can relate to,” Wong said.
Mr. Ma founded Alibaba.com in June 1999. In October, the company raised $5 million from Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs and another $20 million from Japanese tech investor SoftBank.
Despite Alibaba's intense work culture, Ma was known for his playful spirit. In the early 2000s, when he launched his Taobao shopping platform, he had his team do handstands during breaks to boost their energy.
Alibaba experienced rapid growth in China throughout the 2000s. By the mid-2010s, Ma began dreaming beyond China.
In 2014, Alibaba began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, and by the end of the year, Ma was Asia's richest person with an estimated fortune of $25 billion.
“What I'm thinking about is how can we make Alibaba a platform for the world's small and medium-sized businesses,” Ma told journalist Charlie Rose at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2015. Ta.
Mr. Ma himself chatted with some of the biggest names in business, technology, and government from around the world. bill gates Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son and then-President-elect Donald Trump.
But there was a problem. As the Financial Times reported in April 2021, the outspoken Mr. Ma was beginning to outshine the political masters in Beijing.
Sources close to the Hangzhou government told the media that some of his comments may also be potentially embarrassing for the Chinese government.
After Mr. Ma publicly accused Chinese regulators of stifling innovation in October 2020, the Chinese government ran out of patience. What happened next was a long period of time in which he was absent from the public eye.
Jack Ma 3.0: A giant of high-tech agriculture
Mr. Ma had already been away from Alibaba for about a year when he disappeared.
Even when Ma was lying down, he was busy. Over the past two years, he has been spotted at various research institutes around the world specializing in high-tech agriculture.
In October 2021, Ma was in Spain learning about technologies related to agriculture and environmental issues. he also Netherlands, Japanand Thailand To learn agrotechnology.
May Tokyo Senmon Gakko announced Ma will continue his teaching career while researching sustainable agriculture and food production.
In January he Thailand, There he dined with Supakit Chiaravanon, chairman of the Charoen Pokpan Group, a major corporation. animal feed producers.
His entrepreneurial spirit seems to have returned, too—or maybe it never went away.
According to reports, Mr. Ma incorporated a company called “Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food” in November. media coverage. According to the South China Morning Post, the company is involved in the sale of packaged foods and the processing and retailing of agricultural products.
Mr. Ma has not publicly discussed why he turned to farming. He did not respond to a request for comment through BI's personal foundation.
Wong said BI Ma has always been impressed by how the digital economy has helped connect rural areas to growth opportunities. His foundation also supports educators in those communities.
Agriculture is therefore an extension of Ma's recognition that there are issues such as climate change, scarcity and inequality that need to be tackled with technology as the driving force. Mr. Wong said.
According to a report by SCMP, Ma appeared to express the same thoughts in a video speech he gave to local teachers in August. His words show that while he may be turning his attention to new areas, he still has the same entrepreneurial spirit he has displayed all along.
“We found that places where agriculture is successful are not necessarily places with good resources, but places with unique thinking and imaginative people,” he said.
“Rural areas certainly need technology, but I think unique thinking and creativity are equally important,” he added.
