Who Is Jack Ma, The Founder Of Alibaba Who Has Many Companies In Indonesia And Is Now Mysteriously Missing

JAKARTA - Jack Ma is one of the richest businessmen in the world. He succeeded in expanding his business to various countries, including Indonesia. Until September 2019, at least, Lazada, Tokopedia, J&T Express and TrueMoney became Jack Ma's companies in Indonesia. What is the story of Jack Ma, who is now reportedly missing after criticizing the Chinese government? VOI compiled a biography of Jack Ma from various sources.

On August 17 2017, Tokopedia announced the acquisition of an investment of US $ 1.1 billion or equivalent to Rp. 14 trillion. This round of investing is led by the Alibaba Group, making Alibaba a minority shareholder in Tokopedia. Prior to Lazada, in April 2016 Jack Ma acquired 67 percent of Lazada's shares in Southeast Asia through a transaction of US $ 1 billion or Rp1 trillion. Through this investment, Alibaba is the majority shareholder of Lazada in six countries, including Indonesia.

June 2017 Alibaba again injected capital into Lazada Group with a value of 2 billion US dollars or Rp28 trillion. One year later, in March 2018, Alibaba increased funding for Lazada by US $ 2 billion. That way Alibaba's total investment in Lazada reaches US $ 4 billion.

In addition to increasing funding for Lazada, in 2017, May 9 to be precise, Alibaba also expanded by collaborating with a logistics company, J&T Express. The partnership resulted in a subsidiary of J&T Alibaba. In this collaboration, J&T Express and Alibaba have a partnership, not a logistics partnership. J&T Alibaba focuses on furniture, agriculture, food, beverage and handicraft SMEs.

In the financial technology sector, Alibaba formed Ant Financial. The company, which focuses on managing Alipay's payment services, was founded in 2014. Ant Financial, in November 2016, injected funds into Ascend Money, which is the parent company of electronic money services, TrueMoney. This service has been present in Indonesia since September 2015 following the acquisition of ownership of the Indonesian e-money license, Witami Tunai Mandiri.

In September 2019, Jack Ma resigned from Alibaba, the company he founded in 1999. Since its founding, Alibaba has gone through a long process to become one of the largest technology companies in the world.

That said, Jack Ma's passionate style was an important driver of Alibaba's development. After Jack Ma's resignation, Daniel Zhang - formerly managing director - advanced to Jack Ma's position as president of the company. Jack Ma became the founder of the first company - among a generation of leading Chinese internet entrepreneurs - to quit the company he built himself.

That year, Forbes magazine recorded Alibaba's valuation at 480 billion US dollars or Rp6,750 trillion. The record goes hand in hand with the name Jack Ma, who is listed as the richest person in China with a wealth of 38.6 billion US dollars or Rp.542 trillion.

Jack Ma was born into a poor family in Hangzhuo, Zhejiang, China, September 10, 1964. Early in his career, Jack Ma worked as an English teacher and translator, a profession that did not help him financially. Jack Ma remains poor. Indeed, as a poor person in China, Jack Ma is quite special. He is fluent in English since childhood. That ability he adapted from the tourists he met in China.

While working as an English teacher, Jack Ma was asked to represent a Chinese company to collect a debt from someone in the United States (US). During that visit, Jack Ma took the time to stop by his friend Ken Morley's house in Seattle. At Morley's house, Jack Ma found a computer connected to the internet. It was Jack Ma's first time going digital.

Porter Erisman, former Vice President of Alibaba, said Jack Ma was afraid to access the internet. "His friend (Morley) then said don't be afraid, you won't break it. Just touch it," Porter told CNBC, quoted Monday, January 4.

Like most people in the world, Jack Ma's first touch with the internet got him hooked. He then began to explore a lot of information. The idea of setting up an online marketplace business arose when Jack Ma searched for the word "beer" on an online search engine. The search failed. Jack Ma was surprised not to find a Chinese beer brand in the search results.

"He told himself, if I could get Chinese companies on the internet and allow them to connect with businesses in the US and other countries, maybe I could create a powerful business," said Porter.

At the age of 33, Jack Ma bought his first computer. Not with a qualified background and insight in the world of technology Jack Ma started the steps to establish Alibaba. Even about capital. When he started Alibaba, Jack Ma started with $ 60,000 worth of money. Nor was it easy for him to convince a number of his friends to invest in the marketplace he created.

And Alibaba isn't Jack Ma's first try. Previously, Jack Ma also tried to set up a start-up company. Twice. And he succeeded in the third try. Over the years Alibaba has grown. Originally only an online marketplace, Alibaba has finally succeeded in becoming an e-commerce giant with a variety of business wings, from financial services to artificial intelligence.

Initially founded, Alibaba is a buying and selling platform for entrepreneurs. Jack Ma then decided to expand into consumer-based e-commerce in 2003, before finally releasing a digital payment platform called Alipay.

About 15 years starting Alibaba with capital he borrowed from a friend, Jack Ma began to find a good way for his company. The idea of helping small entrepreneurs market their products is going very well. Nice idea. Year after year, Alibaba's valuation continued to increase until he pulled Alibaba to the capital market floor when the company's valuation was at US $ 25 billion.

This achievement made Alibaba join a company that was already in the club for Rp.6,655 trillion. The club consists of Tencent, Apple, Alphabet (parent of Google), Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. That's the story of how Jack Ma started his success and wealth with Alibaba. Jack Ma also became one of the richest people in the world.

Full name

Jack Ma

Birth name

Ma Yun

Place of birth

Hangzhuo, Zhejiang, China

Date of birth

10 September 1964

Citizenship

China

Education

- Hangzhuo Normal University (1988)

- Cheung Kong Graduate School of Bussines, Beijing (2006)

Wife

Cathy Zang (Ma Zang Yun)

Child

Ma Yuankun, Ma Yuanbao

Father's name

Ma Laifa

Mother's name

Cui Wencai

Net worth

US $ 44.3 billion (As of January 2020)