He is barely computer literate.
Alibaba, the dominant Chinese online retailer with a $420 billion market worth, was founded and is currently led by Jack Ma. Ma's current net worth is $36.5 billion, claims Forbes.
Ma, however, claims that neither his technical nor business talents contributed to his success. At the Viva Tech conference in Paris on Thursday, Ma declared, "I know nothing about technology, I know nothing about marketing, and I know nothing about (the legal) stuff". What does he know, then, that has enabled him to succeed? "I only understand humans. As a founder, everything we do is to please our customers. Bring your group. Make your group joyful. And you'll be content", Ma assured.
In fact, after using the internet for the first time in 1995 on his first trip to the United States, Ma, who had originally intended to become a teacher, changed his mind and decided to launch a computer company. "Jack, this is the Internet", Jack's friend said. What is the Internet, Jack Ma enquired? "Search whatever you want", Charlie Rose said in 2015. "I initially didn't want to touch it because Chinese computers are so pricey. I can't pay if I damage it", Ma remarked. Ma then looked up "China" in his search engine. No information existed regarding China, claimed Ma.
Jack Ma then suggested to his pal, "Why don't I make something about China?" "So we created a tiny, quite awful page named China ", Ma told Rose. It served as the impetus for founding Alibaba, which, according to Ma, began as an "e-marketplace for information" and then expanded.
