said Alibaba stands to benefit from Beijing’s
promise to increase imports and a growing
consumer market.
Alibaba is one of a group of companies
including Tencent Holding Ltd., a games and
social media giant, search engine Baidu.com
Inc. and e-commerce rival JD.com that have
revolutionized shopping, entertainment and
consumer services in China.
Alibaba was founded at a time when few
Chinese were online. As internet use spread,
the company expanded into consumer-focused
retailing and services. Few Chinese used credit
cards, so Alibaba created the Alipay online
payments system.
Ma, known in Chinese as Ma Yun, appears
regularly on television. At an annual Alibaba
employee festival in Hanzhou, he has sung pop
songs in costumes that have included blond
wigs and leather jackets. He pokes fun at his own
appearance, saying his oversize head and angular
features make him look like the alien in director
Steven Spielberg’s movie “E.T. The Extraterrestrial.”
The company’s $25 billion initial public offering on
the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014
was the biggest to date by a Chinese company.
The Hurun Report, which follows China’s wealth,
estimates Ma’s fortune at $38 billion.
In 2015, Ma bought the South China Morning Post,
Hong Kong’s biggest English-language newspaper.