Page 49 - How China Is Winning the Tech Race

During our hourlong interview, I hear about the event that changed his
life. As a young boy, Ma biked 40 minutes every day to the Shangri-La Hotel
near Hangzhou’s scenic West Lake to show foreign tourists around and
practice his English skills. There, he met an Australian family who invited him
to spend a summer month with them. “Before I went, I was educated that
China was the richest, happiest country in the world. But I realized that
everything was different from what I was told. Since then, I started to think
differently. I didn’t follow people but developed my own way of thinking.”
His older brother and sister did not fight back when classmates ridiculed
them, but Ma says that he did. He also points out that he is still the only
family member who can speak English. His mother was a garment factory
worker, and his father slaved in a photography shop before becoming
the appointed head of a local dramatic arts association. Most evenings, his
father had actor friends over. That must have been where Ma picked up his
acting skills.
A poor student who flunked
two university entrance exams, Ma
finally was accepted in 1984 by
“I was educated that China was the richest,
“the worst university in town”:
happiest country in the world. But I realized
Hangzhou Teachers College. In
that everything was different from what I was
school, his natural leadership skills told. Since then, I started to think differently.
shone. He was head of the student I didn’t follow people but developed my own
union and chairman of the student way of thinking.”
federation for the entire city. After
Jack Ma,
graduation in 1988, he kept a
chairman and CEO, Alibaba Group
promise he had made to the college
president to stay five years in his
first job as an English teacher at the
Hangzhou Electrical Engineering Institute even though he was making only
$15 per month and didn’t want to teach. When he left, he was turned down
for several jobs, including assistant to the general manager of a newly opened
Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It was a trip to the United States in 1995 that introduced Ma to the
Internet. He was an interpreter for a trade delegation and was visiting friends
in Seattle. Never having used a computer keyboard before, he pecked out the
words beer and China into Yahoo! When his search surprisingly turned up

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Alibaba—The Wizardry of Jack Ma 23