Open Sesame

by+Sun+Bing

An unprecedented initial public offering （IPO） by Chinese tech giant Alibaba not only made its chairman Jack Ma Chinas richest person， but made the company the worlds largest e-commerce firm and second largest internet entity.

Recently， Jack Ma and his business empire have become one of the hottest topics globally. His ambitious dream of“changing the lives of millions of people and even the entire world” has become reality. When speaking of the future of Alibaba， he always considers a “business sphere” comprised of all its stakeholders instead of only the tech giant itself.

Bell Ringers

At 7 a.m. local time on September 19， 2014， journalists from around the world endured a chilly morning breeze in front of the New York Stock Exchange decorated with Alibabas orange banners. That day， Chinas biggest e-commerce company， Alibaba， launched its IPO. Camera flashes lit up the scene as Jack Ma and his team appeared and waved to onlookers.

The IPO of Alibaba seemed like a big“show” under a global spotlight， with the climax being the bell-ringing ceremony. Astonishingly， neither Jack Ma nor his business partners rang the IPO bell. Instead， he invited eight of Alibabas clients， including an online-store owner， a shopper， a customer-service worker， a delivery man， an online-store model， and a service provider， to do the job. Those bell ringers represent the entire industrial chain of the e-commerce giant.

Jack Ma doesnt regret missing the chance to ring the bell himself. “The purpose of our 15 years of work was to let them stand on the stage and open the door to greater success，” he illustrates. “We believe our company will succeed when our clients gain success. We arent a company born of technological innovation or legendary entrepreneurs， but a business entity built on the devotion of millions in terms of time， energy， and passion.” In the eyes of Ma， his business sphere shouldnt be limited to e-commerce or even the internet， but should cover the entire business chain and even expand to the whole world.

Run， Forrest， Run

In its first day trading， Alibabas stock price closed at US$ 93.89， more than 38 percent up from its initial offering price of$68. The Chinese tech giants market value surpassed US$ 231.4 billion， beating Facebook and becoming the worlds second largest internet company following only Google. This also made its chairman， Jack Ma， the wealthiest person on the Chinese mainland.

“I never expected to become the richest man in the community I live， let alone the entire Chinese mainland，” grins Ma. “The title is meaningless. Money is only a resource to be used to do something great. A person cannot spend so much money. As Ive said many times， the happiest times of my life， I was only making 90 yuan a month.”

“Before I arrived in New York， I read the novel Forrest Gump once again，” he adds. “It reminds me that no matter what happens， I am the same person as 15 years ago when Alibaba was founded.” On many occasions， Ma has called Forrest Gump his hero because his simplicity and persistence never changed even when he became rich.

Jack Ma is of the first group of Chinese people to realize the internet would radically change the world. He began to explore the internet market at the end of 1994. At that time， he already predicted that people would eventually get used to buying and selling things online， and he imagined Alibaba developing into an international company surpassing Walmart， with rivals not in China but Silicon Valley in the United States. In those days， it all seemed like science fiction， but almost every prediction has come true.

“Frankly， we didnt expect to achieve this kind of success，” asserts Ma. “Perhaps it should be someone else. The IPO marks a milestone in the history of Alibaba. Next， we may face unpredictable challenges and difficulties， and at the same time unprecedented glories. Were going to see more milestones to hit in the future.”

Short Change

Jack Ma asserts that he hasnt changed himself in 15 years， but he certainly does change many people and things. Currently， Alibaba owns the worlds largest e-commerce site， which attracts 279 million buyers and 8.5 million vendors. In the first half of 2014， its transaction volume totaled 931 billion yuan.

“Launching an IPO isnt our goal， but a necessary step towards our final goal，”explains Ma. “Our next goal is to integrate our business sphere. The funds raised through the IPO will be used to expand the rural market and implement our onlineto-offline and internationalization strategies. Our final goal is to build a supportive environment for medium-sized and small enterprises and help them earn money.”

In fact， such goals were set when Alibaba was first registered as a company.“We want to make it easier to start business and provide better opportunities for everyone， especially small enterprises and businesses.” As his company grows into one of the worlds largest juggernauts， Ma repeatedly emphasizes Alibabas mission to“fight for the little guys.”

Alibaba Group only listed part of its businesses， including B2B， AliExpress， Ju.taobao.com （group buying site）， Tmall.com， 1688.com， and Taobao.com， through this IPO. Some subsidiaries didnt go public this time， of which the micro-finance service division is considered to carry the greatest potential future business for Alibaba.

That means the total assets of Alibaba are even higher than its current market value of US$ 230 billion – while even ignoring its affiliated companies such as Sina Weibo， Youku Tudou Inc.， and Evergrande Taobao Football Club. The year before it launched the IPO， Alibaba invested 40 billion yuan in acquisitions， continuously expanding its business sphere to cover finance， cloud computing， big data， cultural industries， and entertainment.