Founders, Executives and Management Thinkers

Jack Ma

Also Known As Ma Yun

Founder and Executive

Citation Formats

General Reference

Business Atlas. "Jack Ma." Accessed September 7, 2026. https://dev-business.interactiveatlas.org/business-figures/jack-ma.

APA Style

Business Atlas. (n.d.). Jack Ma. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://dev-business.interactiveatlas.org/business-figures/jack-ma

BibTeX

@misc{businessatlas-jack-ma,
  author = {Business Atlas},
  title = {Jack Ma},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-business.interactiveatlas.org/business-figures/jack-ma},
  note = {Accessed September 7, 2026}
}

Jack Ma, born Ma Yun, is a Chinese businessman who co-founded Alibaba Group in Hangzhou in 1999 and built it into one of the world's largest e-commerce and technology companies, serving as its executive chairman until stepping down in 2019. A former English teacher who was rejected from dozens of jobs before turning to entrepreneurship, he also co-founded the digital payments platform Alipay and the microfinance arm Ant Group. He largely withdrew from public life after an October 2020 speech criticizing Chinese financial regulators was followed by the abrupt suspension of Ant Group's planned initial public offering and months of increased regulatory scrutiny of his businesses.

Facts

Birth Date

1964-09-10 1

Birth Year

1964 1

Birthplace

Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China 1

Nationality

Chinese 1

Defining Contribution

Co-founded Alibaba Group in 1999 as a business-to-business e-commerce marketplace and built it into a multinational technology conglomerate, serving as executive chairman until 2019. 1

Notable Work

Alibaba Group 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Alibaba Group Initial Public Offering

Source Wikipedia, Alibaba Group IPO

Sources

1. Jack Ma (Wikipedia)

WikipediaEarly life and education section, opening sentence

Quote, Early life and education section, opening sentence

Ma was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, on 10 September 1964.

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1. Jack Ma (Wikipedia)

WikipediaLead paragraph, parenthetical birth note

Quote, Lead paragraph, parenthetical birth note

born 10 September 1964

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1. Jack Ma (Wikipedia)

WikipediaLead paragraph, first sentence

Quote, Lead paragraph, first sentence

is a Chinese businessman and philanthropist

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1. Jack Ma (Wikipedia)

WikipediaLead paragraph, third sentence

Quote, Lead paragraph, third sentence

In 1999, he co-founded Alibaba Group, initially as a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce marketplace and later expanded into a multinational conglomerate.

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1. Jack Ma (Wikipedia)

WikipediaLead paragraph, second sentence

Quote, Lead paragraph, second sentence