Is Jack Ma the most bizarre billionaire ever?

[Azizam]

He may be worth $14billion but Alibaba founder performs in pop concerts for his staff and MARRIES them in mass ceremonies

• Ma, 50, founded Alibaba, the world's biggest online marketplace
• Floated on Wall St this month and was valued at $230billion
• Ma thought to be worth $14billion - making him the richest man in China
• Documentary has revealed his bizarre celebrity lifestyle at home
• Ma performs songs onstage at company events dressed in wigs and leather
• Also holds huge wedding ceremonies for as many as 700 employees at once

When he floated the giant online shopping company he founded on Wall St for $22billion, Alibaba's Jack Ma was catapulted into the public eye in the West.

But, while investors in America were getting their first glimpse of Ma, 50, a study of him in his native China reveals a larger-than-life figure who performs karaoke on stage for thousands of his employees - and even marries them.

Ma, who founded Alibaba from a tiny flat in China in 1999, showed some of his personality to investors as the company floated, declaring on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange that his hero was Forrest Gump.

According to Ma himself - who seemed bemused to discover this is not typical CEO behavior - it is all to boost the happiness of his employees, who adore him and crowd round for photos at every opportunity.

At one point, the businessman is pictured in outlandish punk rock gear, including a leather jacket, sunglasses, nose jewelry, a white wig and a, red mohawk-style headdress serenading a huge crowd to celebrate a company anniversary.

After entering the stage to the theme tune from Disney's Lion King movie, he is later heard singing You Are So Beautiful - to rapturous applause.

Ma, who saw the internet for the first time in 1995, and returned to China determined to make it a viable business there, has made his company the biggest online retailer on earth, and himself one of China's most powerful men.

It is a far cry from his humble beginnings, where had grew up in rural Hangzhou with not enough to eat, and failed two college entrance exams in his hometown.

Before he came up with the idea to found Alibaba, he taught English, but was rejected for more than a dozen other jobs, including a post at KFC.

The online retailer smashed records with its offering - the largest in US history - and is now as valuable as Facebook after its first day on Wall Street.

The e-commerce powerhouse, which sells anything from fat suits to live animals, started the day valued more than Amazon and eBay at $168 billion, and sent tremors through the market as it floated stocks priced at $68 per share.

Shares quickly jumped to $98 once trading finally launched at 11.53am - after a delayed start due to an overwhelming influx of orders.

Is Alibaba's Jack Ma the most bizarre billionaire ever? | Daily Mail Online






looooooooooooool extremely bizarre, especially in Asia.

 

[Keel]

Dont forget because of his leadership, thousands of his employees were made millionaires
He knows when to loosen up really well

Alibaba IPO creates thousands of new millionaires in China - Business - The Boston Globe

Chinese Art Print Painting

 

[Azizam]

Dont forget because of his leadership, thousands of his employees were made millionaires
He knows when to loosen up really well

Alibaba IPO creates thousands of new millionaires in China - Business - The Boston Globe

Chinese Art Print Painting

He is a role model for everyone.

 

[Cheetah786]

Brilliant man who lives to the fullest, more power to him.

 

[Tractor]

This guy always has a large number of claque and he had been famous for his abnormal face in China's IT field long before.

 

[Keel]

Brilliant man who lives to the fullest, more power to him.

He is a role model for everyone.

for everyone?
He must be glad for gaining a fanbase overseas

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I'm pretty sure Howard Hughes would be up there on that list.

 

[TaiShang]

Jack Ma Is China’s Most Generous Philanthropist: Hurun Report : Business : Yibada

Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma remains the most generous philanthropist in mainland China the previous year, according to the newly released 2015 Hurun Philanthropy List.

With a total donation worth 14.65 billion yuan ($2.36 billion), Ma and his family retained the top spot they had in 2014 on the new list published by Hurun Report on Sunday.

The list is based on donations made from April 1, 2014 to March 31 this year.

Ma's notable charity efforts include the establishment of a personal philanthropic trust and a HK$1-billion donation for the creation of foundation for startups in Hong Kong.

Ma is followed by electronics chain owner Tang Lixin with 315 million yuan in donations, and Dalian Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin and his son Wang Sicong with 311 million yuan.

Established in 2004, The Hurun Philanthropy List ranks the 100 most generous people on mainland China based on the value of their cash or equivalent donations on a yearly basis.

For the past 12 months, the top 100 gave 20.23 billion yuan, a decline of 720 million yuan from the past year.

Of the top 100, 46 are from the mainland, which includes Li Hejun, China's richest man and chairman of Hanergy Holding Group Ltd., with assets of $26 billion. Li ranked No. 36 with donations of $40.7 million, including $20 million allotted to forestation projects in northwest China's Gansu Province.

Donations in the education sector were most prominent, particularly to the alma maters of donors and overseas universities. According to the list, Tang donated 300 million yuan to Chongqing University to build a new information building, while Chinese real estate tycoons Pan Shiyi and his wife Zhang Xin gave 94.7 million yuan to Harvard and Yale to put them in 19th place.

Former Premier Zhu Rongji also came in at No. 88 with a 15.2-million-yuan donation to the Practical Education Foundation, an organization he established in 2013 to benefit students from poor families in China's less developed regions.

 

[Kyle Sun]

He is so ugly.

 

[Sugarcane]

He is so ugly.

World needs more ugly people like him than pretty crooks.

 

[Keel]

Loathe him or love him
He has hurt some traditional retailers but on the other hand Mr Ma has provided greater more opportunites and wealth for other people like his employees and start-up entrepreneurs

Here take a look at some of his proud and happy partners/ employees appearing at the NYSE on the very successful IPO of Alibaba

 

[TaiShang]

 

[Keel]

Alibaba revenue rises 45%, CEO to step down
Source:Reuters-Global Times Published: 2015-5-7 23:48:02


Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's quarterly revenue rose 45 percent, beating analysts' expectations, as the Chinese e-commerce company reported a jump in gross merchandise volume (GMV).

The company also said on Thursday that Chief Executive Jonathan Lu Zhaoxi will step down, effective on Sunday, and he would be replaced by COO Daniel Zhang Yong.

Lu will remain on the board as vice chairman, the company said.

Alibaba's revenue jumped to $2.81 billion in the quarter ended March 31, beating the average analyst estimate of $2.77 billion.

The company earned $463 million, or 18 cents per share. Excluding items, the company earned 48 cents per share, beating the 42 cents analysts estimated.

Alibaba's GMV on China retail marketplaces jumped 40 percent to $97 billion.

Mobile GMV continued to grow, accounting for 51 percent of total GMV, up from 42 percent in the December quarter.

About two-thirds of Alibaba's sales still come from its well-known consumer-to-consumer marketplace taobao.com, where it primarily earns revenue from advertising and marketing services and charges less for marketing on mobile devices than on computers.

"We assume that stepped-up efforts to remove counterfeit goods has a measurable impact on GMV this quarter," MKM Partners analyst Rob Sanderson wrote in a note on Monday.

Investors have been spooked in recent months by the perception of increased regulatory pressure on Alibaba to tackle the sale of counterfeit goods on its platforms.

Executive Chairman Jack Ma Yun's hiring freeze announcement released on April 29 also dampened enthusiasm among those primed to expect continued rapid growth.

The number of mobile monthly active users soared 77 percent to 289 million. The number of overall annual active buyers increased 37 percent to 350 million.

The quarterly report card was only the third since Alibaba's record-breaking $25 billion IPO in New York in September, 2014.

Up to Wednesday's (US time) close, the stock had fallen more than 33 percent since hitting a record high of $120 in November 2014.

 

[TaiShang]

Alibaba has ‘its mojo back’ and is catching up to Wal-Mart

Published: May 8, 2015 2:25 p.m. ET

‘We estimate BABA will soon be the largest retailer in the world’

MarketWatch photo illustration/Everett Collection, Getty Images
Mr. Jack Ma Powers: Ohhh, Behave!
Alibaba Group just convinced some analysts that it is on track to outpace Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as the world’s largest retailer. They also think it can do better than Baidu, all while offering better stock market returns than Amazon.

While sentiment has remained low on Alibaba BABA, +1.23% since its September initial public offering—its shares are off about 27% from November highs—analysts have grown much more bullish after the company’s stronger-than-expected earnings report on Thursday.

Alibaba has got “its mojo back,” said Pacific Crest analyst Cheng Cheng in a note to clients Friday morning. The world’s largest e-commerce company was met with a wave of positive analyst notes, including an upgrade to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Goldman also raised its price target by a dollar to $98, which implies a 14% return from Thursday’s closing price. Other increases came from Stifel, which reiterated a buy rating raised its price target to $102 from $99; Raymond James, which stayed at outperform and lifted its target to $109 from $108; Cantor Fitzgerald, which maintained a buy rating and raised its target to $110 from $100; and Barlcays, which stayed at overweight and increased its target to $103 from $100.

Nomura became Alibaba’s most bullish analyst in terms of share-price growth when it reiterated a buy rating and raised its price target to $137 from $119, implying 60% upside. HSBC reiterated a $136 target and buy rating. The average rating and target among a FactSet poll of 33 analysts is the equivalent to buy and $107.51.

The top-line beat takes Alibaba “out of the penalty box,” said analysts at Wells Fargo. “We estimate BABA will soon be the largest retailer in the world,” with much better returns and margins than the current leader; Wal-Mart WMT, +0.64% they said.

Stifel analyst Scott Devitt said he thinks the strong earnings will shift the dialogue back to Alibaba as a leading global e-commerce platform. The stock, he said, offers a return potential that is two-times that of U.S. rival Amazon.com Inc.AMZN, +1.60%

Nomura analyst Chao Wang said Alibaba has reached an inflection point in terms of monetization, which he said should drive “significant upside” in revenue over the next three to five years. He believes Alibaba can perform better than Baidu Inc.BIDU, -0.05% in terms of mobile monetization.

A bright spot for Alibaba during the quarter was a 157% improvement in mobile gross merchandise volume to $49 billion, representing 51% of total GMV. Overall mobile revenue nearly quadrupled.

“Alibaba is positioned to leverage the next legs of growth in online shopping in China,” said HSBC analyst Chi Tsang, who said Alibaba remains his top pick in his coverage area.

Analysts at Jefferies, which reiterated a buy rating and $98 price target on the stock, said the transition to mobile commerce is happening faster than expected.

There are still areas in need of improvement, particularly with TMall’s gross merchandise volume, which analysts say may improve with a successful relaunch of the TMall app.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch maintained a buy rating and $107 price target, but said Alibaba must address challenges in PC monetization, which is being affected by the rise in mobile. However, Stifel’s Devitt said management remains confident that mobile can exceed desktop in the long run.

Shares of Alibaba were up 1.9% to $87.69 in recent Friday afternoon trade. They have increased 9.5% since closing at $80 in the last day of trade before the company reported earnings.