Briefing | Business

Vitals

Jack Ma BIGGEST CHALLENGES

The man leading
Alibaba to America
Mas Alibaba, Chinas online-shopping giant,
completed the largest initial public offering
in history$25 billionon the New York
Stock Exchange. The shares started trading
on Sept. 19, and the value of the company
exceeded that of Facebook, Coca-Cola or IBM.
Ma will be under pressure from his new
investors to deliver ever larger profits. He
must expand outside his home market
while also fighting off opponents at
home. Chinese Internet giants Baidu
and Tencent and property group Wanda
recently joined forces to start a rival
e-commerce firm.
BIGGEST THREAT
Chinas authoritarian rulers still wield
CAN HE DO IT?
Ma has a proven track record of compet-
ing with global e-commerce titansand
winning. Hes shoved aside eBay and
Amazon in China. And with his post-IPO
war chest, Ma has the financial muscle to
invest heavily and acquire other firms.
The question is, Will he shop wisely?
michael schuman
VITAL STATS

CLAIMS TO FAME Fifteen years ago,
Ma, a former English teacher, started
Alibaba in an apartment in the Chinese
50 1999
tremendous control over business. A big
wild card in Alibabas future will be Mas
ability to stay in the good graces of the
Communist Party while building trust Mas age Year Alibaba
ANDRE W BURTON GE T T Y IMAGES

was founded
city of Hangzhou. Today Alibaba is the with consumers in the West.
undisputed champion of online retailing,
handling twice as much merchandise as BIGGEST CRITIC
Amazon. An indifferent student, Ma built
his empire without the top diploma or
political connections usually needed to
succeed in China.
The investor Peter Thiel passed on Aliba-
bas IPO, arguing that a bet on the compa-
ny was ultimately a bet on Beijingwith
the political uncertainty that implied.
18
Number of Alibaba
co-founders
$25B
Mas estimated
fortune

18 time October 6, 2014

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