Jack Ma is an “unlikely corporate titan” for an unusually named Chinese company, Duncan Clark writes of Alibaba. Yet, Alibaba is doing new and unusual things likely to change China forever. On Thursday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m., Clark will be at Busboys and Poets’ 5th and K location to talk about his new book Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built (Ecco, $28).
As an early advisor to Ma, Clark writes about what the massive company means for the Chinese people—38,000 of whom are employed by Alibaba—and the global digital economy.
Ma, who started his career as an English teacher, is now the richest man in China. Alibaba is the second most valuable Internet company after Google, with 80 percent of the e-commerce market share in China. Its primary online shopping website, Taobao, has driven a wave of consumerism that has transformed the way the country shops to an even greater extent than Amazon has in the United States, Clark writes.
Ma’s philosophy became Alibaba’s mantra: “Customers first, employees second, and stakeholders third.” This has given the Chinese what Duncan describes as their first experience of being valued customers, in a place where products are more than just “Made in China.”
Alibaba has grown quickly over the past few years, but Ma was determined to make it a game-changing company since he and his wife wagered everything they had on it in 1999. Between then and now, they have competed with Silicon Valley rivals (relationships chronicled by Clark) and had numerous ups and downs.
In fact, things were looking so bleak in 2003 that Clark turned down a last-chance offer to buy several hundred thousand Alibaba shares at thirty cents each. Duncan now regrets that $30 million mistake, but admits that learning about others who underestimated Ma while writing the book made him feel a bit better.
So why is Ma such a success, with his humble roots in a not entirely free enterprise-friendly country? Among other reasons, Duncan describes Ma as a natural entrepreneur, with a folksy demeanor (he has named Forrest Gump as his inspiration) and oratorical skills that “charm and cajole.” He knows how to speak to his audiences, and is quotable in both Chinese and English. President Obama even interviewed him at an Asia-Pacific summit in November.
Ma’s personality and unexpected savvy has enabled him to expand Alibaba even further in China and possibly beyond. The company has already purchased Chinese newspapers, and is starting to collaborate with larger news organizations and film producers looking to break into Western markets. The move may give Alibaba greater influence into how China is portrayed in the media, and to the rest of the world.
Duncan founded the consultancy firm BDA China 19 years ago and specializes in China’s technology, internet and e-commerce sectors. Before that, he was an investment banker in London, and was raised in England, the United States and France.
The event is free and open to the public.
