Jack Ma news and archive

Jack Ma, China's richest man, is a Communist Party member

Jack Ma, founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, is among the world's richest people but he has now emerged as a member of another club: China's 89-million-strong Communist Party. The billionaire's Communist bona fides were revealed by the People's Daily, the party's official mouthpiece, in an article praising contributors to China's development....

People

Alibaba's Ma calls trade war 'stupidest thing in the world'

The US-China trade war is the "stupidest thing in the world," Alibaba e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma declared at an import fair that China opened Monday partly to counter foreign criticism of its trade policies. Ma, who recently took back an earlier pledge to create a million jobs in the US -- blaming the trade war launched by Donald Trump -- made...

Business

Alibaba's Ma says 1m US jobs pledge thwarted by trade row

Alibaba founder Jack Ma said his ambitious pledge to create one million jobs in the US had been scuppered by the trade row between Beijing and Washington, Chinese state news reported Thursday. The billionaire owner of China's largest online shopping portal made the headline-grabbing promise to Donald Trump last year, as Beijing courted the...

Business |TIMELINE Featured

Timeline: the rise and rise of Alibaba

This week was shaken by several news coming from Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. To start, the company’s founder and CEO, Jack Ma, announced his plans to retire in 2019. Daniel Zhang is set to be his successor. Today, Alibaba and Russian technology group Mail.ru said they would launch a joint e-commerce venture in Russia and former Soviet...

Management |UPDATE Featured

Alibaba, Russian tech firm Mail.ru agree joint e-commerce venture

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Russian technology group Mail.ru on Tuesday said they would launch a joint e-commerce venture in Russia and former Soviet countries. The deal comes as e-commerce is developing rapidly in Russia though hindered by the country's vast size and problematic infrastructure, including an often unreliable postal...

Management

Alibaba founder Jack Ma to step down in 2019, pledges 'smooth transition'

Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma announced on Monday he would step down as head of the pioneering Chinese e-commerce giant in one year, a departure already drawing comparisons to the retirement of late Apple founder Steve Jobs. Analysts said the early withdrawal of the 54-year-old Ma, who became the charismatic face of a company that has...

RetailFeatured

Jack Ma: 'Artificial intelligence and robots will kill many jobs'

"Artificial intelligence and robots will kill many jobs." It's a depressingly blunt statement for anyone to make, but even more so as it is the prediction of Jack Ma, CEO of the Chinese online sales giant Alibaba. The rise of AI -- its huge potential and fears over its potentially negative consequences -- is just one of the big issues discussed...

Report

Alibaba launches electronic trading hub in Malaysia

Alibaba launched an electronic trading hub in Malaysia Friday aimed at helping small- and medium-sized businesses, a first for the Chinese internet giant outside its home country. The hub, part of a "digital free trade zone" near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, went live during a ceremony attended by Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Malaysian...

Retail

Is facial recognition the stuff of sci-fi? Not in China

From toilet-paper dispensers to fast-food restaurants, travel, beauty and crime-fighting, China is taking the lead in rolling out facial-recognition technology. But while advocates warn it makes life easier, quicker and safer, opponents counter that it is another example of how the Chinese government keeps a sinister and increasingly close eye...

Business

Hiring not part of Alibaba pledge to create US jobs

Alibaba executive vice chairman Joseph Tsai said Tuesday he expects to boost US jobs by expanding the Chinese firm's e-commerce platform -- not by hiring American workers. Tsai, speaking at a California tech conference, made the comments to follow up on a headline-grabbing pledge earlier this year by Alibaba founder Jack Ma and US President...

Business

Alibaba's Jack Ma is China's 3rd richest man

Shanghai - The net worth of China's ultra-rich surged this year with Evergrande real estate mogul Xu Jiayin's 43 billion USD fortune catapulting him to the top, a survey released Thursday said. An all-time high 2,130 people made the annual ranking of China's richest individuals compiled by Shanghai-based luxury magazine publisher Hurun Report,...

ManagementFeatured

Alibaba profit nearly doubles on robust revenues

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Thursday its net profit almost doubled in the latest quarter on the back of solid revenue growth in its core shopping business and in cloud computing. Alibaba, which has made billionaire founder Jack Ma one of China's richest men and a global e-commerce icon, has seen its New York-listed shares soar 80...