Alibaba: How Jack Ma Built His Empire
Alibaba: China’s combined version of Etsy, Ebay, and Amazon has recently became one of the most valuable companies in the world after joining the New York Stock Exchange this past month, yet it possesses a significance that goes beyond any quantifiable measure and into the personal and individual lives of China’s Republic.
Launched in 1999, Alibaba is the product of down to earth, genius Jack Ma. Without a single borrowed cent from the Chinese government nor China Banks, Ma built up his enterprise with an initial investment of only a little over $50,000. Today, his company’s value exceeds $231 billion.
Headquartered in Hangzhou, China, the company encompasses the ability “to reach millions upon millions of previously unreachable Chinese consumers” as stated by Lara Logan in an interview she held with Ma on CBS’s television news program 60 Minutes. Ma said that, “You can buy anything, as long as it’s legal. Anything.” It operates as a type of open marketplace connecting buyers with sellers. “It has created an e-commerce platform that helps small businesses as well as branded manufacturers reach consumers. It does not sell anything directly and does not own any warehouses.” It is a collection of more than “500 million registered users” which is “more than 40 percent of China’s population.” Ma explains how “[they] need more. We have over 100 million people visiting the site, shopping every day. Coming. And it’s just the beginning.”
Alibaba is unique from other US competitors such as Amazon or Ebay because “[they] believe [the] customer [is] number one, employee number two, shareholder number three. If they don’t want to buy that, that’s fine. If they regret, they can sell us” as Ma explained. He believes that “the shareholder, good. I respect them. But they’re the third. Because you’ve take care of the customer, take care of the employees, shareholder will be taken care of.” The company is the “biggest e-commerce firm in the world, dwarfing the combined sales of Amazon and eBay.”
His sheer intelligence did not arise from an American University or specific textbooks. Ma did not even speak English until he self taught himself by walking up to foreigners and offering free tours in exchange for free lessons. Unlike most if not all successful Chinese, Ma did not have any status, connections, political or otherwise, and came from a rather poor family. Rather his empire was built from genuine enthusiasm and raw passion for the Internet. When the Internet first began picking up in the late 1990’s, Ma scoped the opportunity and pinned it down with the first stages of Alibaba. Never in his dreams did he foretell what an inspiration and dependence his company would excel to. His vast enterprise all began in 1995 when he came to America as a translator:
“I never touch keyboard before. I never using computer before. And I say, ‘What is Internet?’ He say, ‘Jack, you know, search whatever you want on the Internet.’ I say, ‘How can I search? What does search mean?’ He said, ‘Just type.’ I say, ‘I don’t want to type.’ Computers so expensive in China, I don’t want to destroy it. He said, ‘It’s not a bomb. Just type.’ So, I typed the first. Word called ‘beer.’ At that time, very slow, come on the American beer, Japan beer and the German beer but not China beers. So, I was curious. And I type, ‘China.’ No China. No data. Came back to Hangzhou with $1 in my pocket, scared, worried. And I came back and I said, ‘I want to do something called Internet.’”
When questioned if the Chinese Government has or has not interfered with his supremacy he indulged expressing how “[the government] cares that I can stabilize the country. I tell the government, if people have no jobs, you are in trouble. Government will be in trouble. My job is to help more people have jobs.” But if Ma has any strict stipulation when it comes down to doing business with the government, it is to not. He states, “I have a very strict talk to my teams. Never, ever do business with government. In love them. Don’t marry them. So, we never do projects for government…Because of that, we keep very good love-relationship with the government.”
Ma’s multi billion corporation has brought the people of China’s Republic together and closer in a way that the still communist country has never been able to experience before. Smaller businesses actually have a chance to succeed in some small way or another or can become a huge association. Ma has granted them that opportunity. Not only has he changed the entire realm of how China operates from the smallest seller to the largest buyer, but he has made quite the impact on America within the last ten days since joining the New York Stock Exchange.
Ultimately, Ma just wants to “to help, not invade.” And it is just the very beginning.
