[Music]
let’s start with where you are today
just how big is all about them
how many people come every day how many
people come in a week how fast is it
growing yeah we have four over a hundred
million buyers visiting our site
shopping or a site every day and we
create 200 million and every day we
created 14 million jobs for China
directly and indirectly and we grow from
18 people to 30,000 people meeting
people in my apartment – now we have a
four-bit campers compared to 15 years
ago
we were big but compared to 15 years
later with do a baby a big will you be
15 years from them
I think the 15 years ago I told my team
that 15 years in the past 15 years we
grow from nothing to this size and 15
years later I wanted people see know
about Alibaba no Taba because it’s
already everywhere I want 15 years ago
when we talk about what is ecommerce why
small business can using this ecommerce
those Internet can do business across
the nation and I hope 15 years later
people forget about e-commerce because
they think it’s like electricity nobody
think is a high tech today now this is
something that I don’t want to 15 years
later we still walk on the street
talking about why and how ecommerce can
help people talk about the IPO we did it
exceed your expectations
well it’s a pretty small IPO 250 yes
yeah largest Ontario in the history ok
we raise we we raise number 2 was a
Chinese bank thank you I I remember
year 2001 we went to raise some five
minutes remain a venture capitalist
dollars in the USA and it got rejected
and I say we come back raising something
a little bit more but I I think it you
know what we think more about is four to
twenty five billion dollars how we can
spend the money efficiently because this
is not a money this is the trust from
the world the trust from those people
they want to do better jobs to help more
people they won’t have a good return so
I think gives me more pressure because
when our our market cap is bigger than
IBM for certain day were bigger than
warm-up we’re one of the top ten 15
largest er market cap company in the
world I told my team of myself is that
true we’re not that good because years
ago people say ah Alibaba motto is
terrible
does not a make money have those and
that all the big bad things because
Emma’s is a battery based battery Google
is better and there’s no such model like
Alibaba in the USA so I told myself in
people we were better than people
thought but today when we got that big
size I said no we are not that good as
people thought we’re just a company 15
years old average age is 27 28 years old
young people we’re doing something that
human being have never tried so what I
want to talk about the future let me
take you back to when you were born in
hang zoo where the headquarters still
are yeah and your campus is they don’t
have a loop dum-dum move your loot
you’re happy Potter’s there yeah yeah
you’re fond of their loot there you grew
up in the 60s 64 that was
born in 64 that was the time of the
Cultural Revolution yeah
it was the end of the Cultural
Revolution it was well my grandfather
was a tiny landlord was considered after
liberation was considered be a bad guy
so I was III I know how tough it was
when I was kid you tried to get into
three colleges mm-hmm each time they
rejected you
no I I tried there is a examination that
young people if you want to go
university of the taste take the
examinations so I failed of three times
but a lot of fail I fail for funny
things that I showed a key primary
school tests for two times and I failed
like three times for the middle school
middle schools and you would never
believe in ching hangs on my city there
is only one middle school that lasts
only one year it was changed from
primary school middle school because our
graduates of our our Alice school no
universe you know middle school except
us because we were too bad I would
become a what effect did it have though
being rejected well I think we have to
get used to it we’re not that good even
today we still have a lot of people
reject us I think when I didn’t graduate
from universities and before you know
for three years I tried fill in two
universities so I applied jobs for 30
times got rejected
I went for a police listen no you’re not
good I went to you know even the KFC
when KFC came to check up do I say
you see 24 people went for the job 23
people accepted I was the only one guy
and we went for please five people all
of them accepted I was the only guy than
I receive receive it so to me being
turned down rejected oh by the way I
told you that I would apply for Harvard
for 10 times rejected
I know 10 times you wrote them and said
I’d like to come to Harvard yeah and
then I told myself somebody I should go
teach there buddy I think that can be
arranged
Richard Nixon came to Hong Zhu yeah and
after that tourists flooded the place
yeah and that’s how you learn English
yeah I really like the I don’t know why
at 12 13 years old that time I saw they
fell love into the language the English
and there’s no place you can you can
learn English at that time there’s no
books English books so I went to the
council hotel now called House of
shangri-la hotel because that was the
hotel can receive the foreign visitors
so every morning for nine years I showed
them around as a free guide and they
taught me English and I think that
changed to me today I’m 100% made in
China I’ve never got a one-day train
outside China and people when people
talk to me say Jack how can you speak
English like that why is sometimes you
you talk like an American Western guys I
think that was the nine years these
Western for the tourists opened my mind
because everything they told me are so
different from the things I learned from
the school and from my parents so now I
have a habit whatever I see whatever
read
I use my mind think about four two names
that have margin became Jack Ma actually
Jack the name was given by
a lady in tennis she’s a tourist as she
came here and she said came to Hangzhou
we had a we become a Pam friends marring
is so difficult to pronounce
so she said do you you have English name
I said done because okay you give me
English name she said okay she said my
father called the check my husband
called Jack what do you think about Jack
first visit to America 1995 1995 yeah I
come here for a project helping the
local government to building up a
highway and you tried the Internet
I try to Internet in Seattle and in that
building called the USA bank I don’t
know whether US banks still there or not
but there’s a building and this my
friend opened a small office which is so
like only 10% bigger than this room
under a lot of much computers in there
and he said a jack you this is internet
it was I asked what is internet he said
you know search whatever you want
now that time to use mosaic very slow
right now and I say I don’t use it I
don’t want to type because intent the
computer is so expensive in China if I
destroy it I cannot pay you should just
to search it so I searched the first the
world of beer I don’t know why because
easy to spell a baby and I see beers
from Germany beers from USA beers from
Japan but there’s no beer from China and
I say okay
type the second words China no data
nothing nothing and I say 95 not you not
have no data about China so I talked to
my friend why not I make some something
about China so we made a small very ugly
looking page called China it’s it’s
about it’s something like I did a
translation gauges and were listed on
there it was so shocking we launched at
9:40 in the morning
twelve-thirty I got a phone call for my
friend who said Jack you know you got a
five emails so what is email they say
these are the things they people so
except for where are you
this is the first time I see a Chinese
website on that how can we kind of win
can we do something together so I think
this is something interesting so we
should do it why did you call it Ali
Baba
Ali Baba well when I started I think
Internet is Guillou but we should have a
global name and I named that interesting
like at that time the best ur name is
Yahoo right I think I can so I’ve been
thinking for many days suddenly Alibaba
is a good name so I I was happened to
being sent San Francisco that day never
didn’t have a launch and the waitress
can I ask you do you know about Alibaba
she say yes I do what is Alibaba she
said Open Sesame
good so I went on the street ask about
10 20 people they all know about Alibaba
40 thieves and Open Sesame
and I think this is a good name and
start with a whatever you talk about all
the bubbles on the top you have said
before that in creating a la Baba you
had to create trust yeah because people
in China were used to face to face yeah
how did you create trust I think because
we’ve said about it but doing business
into Internet I don’t know you you don’t
know me so how can you do things online
unless you have trust
so for e-commerce the most important of
thing was trust I think when I wear
first went to USA for raising money talk
to the venture capitalist a lot of
people say Oh Jack no no no no China
doing business about wine she how came
to business on internet and I know that
without the trust the system the credit
system it’s impossible to do business so
we with ever in the past for 14 years
everything we do is trying to build up
the trust assistant the record system
well Charlie you know I I’m so proud of
today when I I talked to young padang
China and in the world people don’t
trust each other the government and
people and the media and everybody god
this guy’s cheating but because of
e-commerce we finish 60 million
transactions every day people don’t know
each other I don’t know you
I sent products to you you don’t know me
you why the money to me and I don’t know
you I give a person a package I don’t
know him he took something too so cross
the ocean cross the river understand
this is the trust we have sick at least
the 16-minute trust happening every day
but you created by creating an escrow
account in the beginning yep you know
and so you keep the money until they got
the product yeah and then you release
the money that’s true I mean the escrow
service is about a leap a when I when I
when I have you know this idea with a
love Davos because it was a big decision
because for 33 years Alibaba is just
like a marketplaces for for information
what you have what I have we talked a
lot of time and but don’t do any
business because there is no payment I
talked to the banks no banks want to do
it banks are now this thing never work
so I don’t know what to do because if I
start to launch a payment system it’s
against the financial legal laws because
you have to have a license but if I
don’t do it emo ecommerce would go
nowhere
so then I went to Davos I listened to a
leadership a discussion leadership is
about responsibility and after I
listened to that panel
I gave a call to my friends my
colleagues in the my apartment say do it
now immediately if something wrong the
cover not happy by that if one body has
to go to the prison Jack might go to the
prison because it is so important for
China for the world to build of the
trusted system and if you didn’t
I say and do not do it properly stealing
money money was no trust record I sent
you to the prison yeah so how is they
think and people people don’t like it so
many people I talked to at that time for
all he paid they say this is the
stupidest idea you have ever got but I
say I don’t wear the stupid club as long
as people use it now we have 800 million
people using this a leap a stupid things
better a leap a is a privately held
thing is not part of Alibaba no talk
about money for a second yeah you have
never gotten money from the Chinese
government no no no I I wanted the
beginning a late I don’t want it because
I think if the company always think
about a picking money from all of the
government of pockets that company’s
just rubbish think about how can you
make money from the customers and market
and then help customers succeed that’s
our philosophy on ease banks no no at
that time I want and now they want to
your relationship with the government
mm-hmm yeah what’s your relationship I
mean if they didn’t well here’s what
some say that you have existed in an
environment that’s not you know they
have restricted competition for you and
that’s a pretty good thing to do for a
private company yeah I think the
relationship with the government to for
us is very interesting for the first two
five years because I’ve been working as
a part-time job for a government
organization Ministry of Foreign Trade
1997 for 14 months and I learned that
you should never rely government
organization to do e-commerce and I
start a business I told my people and
team in love with the government but
don’t marry them respect them and a lot
of people say well you know government
officers talking to about Internet the
censorship and there’s that and the
worry about I think it’s the opportunity
it’s a responsibility talking to them
tell them how Internet can help so you
tell them we create jobs
oh yeah I being I think a lot of people
debate and fight against them and in the
first 12 years anybody come to my office
I’ve sit down talking to them how we can
help economy how we can create jobs why
China we improve by the internet I think
because internet that time is new to any
government and if you convince somebody
and you have the chance so today I’m
very talkative that probably this is why
I talk to so many people so I mean the
government comes to you and ask you to
do something for them mm-hm
normally when government comes say Jack
came to this project I said no I can’t I
said no okay
I can’t introduce some friends who are
interested in doing that for you but if
you if they continue to want me to do it
I say okay I do it but I don’t want I
don’t
charge I hope next time don’t come to me
again but recently we helped some
government organizing to it for example
the every Spring Festival the train
station the train tick is so difficult
hundreds and thousands of farmers in
work in the cities in the Spring
Festival they go to the hometown but
when they order tickets on the on the
DDT other way the whole system crashed
for five years so I told my young people
go support them don’t charge anything
because I don’t want to see millions of
farmers go back to city and they cannot
back the tickets so it’s it’s something
that it’s not for money it’s something
that it’s not for the government it’s
for the millions of men as people think
about tickets in a snowy night and then
you have to wait they just buy it use
mobile phone online we got ticket
one-way stop along the route to where
you are in that big IPO was Yahoo Jerry
Yang gave you a invested a billion
dollars yeah a billion dollars now it
turned out to be a pretty good
investment for Yahoo yeah but one time
after another are you raised this money
on your own outside of China with
investors mm-hmm yeah I’m the very
thankful for all the investors cuz 1999
year 2000 and the evening of the Yahoo
time a lot of people see this jack is
crazy
he’s he’s doing something that we don’t
understand a lot of venture capitals
give you money because there is such a
American model already there but they
say Alibaba we don’t see this kind of
motto right name Jack’s crazy yeah this
is crazy guy I mean I remember my first
time in Time magazine they call me crazy
jack and I think Chris is good we are
we know what we are doing but if
everybody agree with me if everybody
believe my our idea is good we have no
chance so that’s the money we raised
we’re very thankful so when the our
investors makes a lot of money I feel
proud and honored as you know in the
United States issues have arisen about
privacy yeah Google and Apple and
questions of whether the government
should have access to files how do you
handle that if the Chinese government
says you know a lot about people mm-hmm
you have transactional relationships
with lots of people mm-hmm and they say
we want to see your files well so far I
don’t have this kind of province of our
Chinese government and I told them any
government if you come here for the
national security anti-terrorist well
anywhere anti-terrorist will work
together there’s a criminal will work
the rest of that no I said we are
business the data is so precious because
we don’t know how because if we give to
anybody it’s gonna be a disaster
and also about privacy issues I think
just like God hundreds of years ago
people say I would rather put the money
under my pillow rather than putting the
banks but today banks they’re special
they know how to protect money much
better than you do
privacy issues all these kind of
securities today we may not have the
solutions we don’t have the answer but I
believe our young people have the
solutions in next 1020 years there will
be breakthrough on that and I fully
confidence on that your life is a
testament to the idea that nothing is
impossible that if somebody says no you
say it’s just the beginning where does
that come from
well I at the beginning I never thought
I thought when I was young I said
everything’s possible now I know not
everything is possible we have something
you have to think about you have to
consider about the others you have to
consider about the customer society your
employees their shareholders so society
there are so many things that I think if
you continue to work hard there’s
there’s possibility and I just a few
that I’m enthusiastic about what we are
doing at the beginning for the first
five years I just want to survive and
five years earlier I think that’s 2000
from ninety point yeah but later I think
wow so many people’s life changed I was
so excited you know for the first of
three years we made a zero revenue zero
revenue but we we are so excited ass
beast continue to work you know what
happened I remember many times when I go
to restaurant have a dinner somebody
came when I was to try to pay the bill
the owner of the restaurant came to say
sir your bill is paid by someone and the
small note say hey mr. Mar I’m your
customer of Alibaba Group I robbed a
platform I’ve made a lot of money and I
know you don’t make any money I pay the
and I remember one thing one day that I
was sitting somewhere into coffee
somebody’s sending me a cigar I don’t
smoke cigar but there’s a note thank you
very much
I’m your customer and I remember the
tabla days I would the shangri-la Hotel
in Beijing when I got on the taxi a male
who opened the door for me take the boy
out at the gate he said Jack thank you
very much so what are you thumbs here my
girlfriend makes more money than I do on
your site and this is something that you
know that it’s not mission if you don’t
do it nothing is possible if you try to
do it at least you have the hope the
revenue comes from advertising and a
smaller amount from transactional – yes
most of it from advertising tiny tiny
from advertising tiny from advertising
tiny from transactions because we need
big mess when we now we have more than
10 million small business power sellers
selling our site to everywhere so the
big trend the transactions we have a
second after Walmart so time back at the
wall yeah tiny of the transact of the
money already make us make us big so you
know we second after warmer I remember
one of the senior management of warmer
guys came to town so five years ago he
said Jack you know you had a great job
in bed that so we I said maybe in 10
years will be bigger than Walmart you
say young man you have a good hope so we
sever make a map that I think in 10
years will be bigger than Walmart on the
cells because if you want have 10,000 to
new customers you have to build a new
warehouse and this that for me to
service what’s your market cap versus
wallström Walmart today all right I
don’t know buddy
yeah some it’s close I think so maybe we
should check later all right so where
are you going what does Jack what I
think because the name for Alibaba we
are Internet company
happen to be in China we have the same
spirit and an entrepreneur sprit like
every great entrepreneurs in the world
and I remember the day when I study but
we want of amazing helping small
business doing easier so next up today
so many millions of small business using
our platform to sell things and over 300
million consumers buy things from our
site cheapest efficient so what I’m
thinking about how we can make Alibaba a
platform for global small business my
vision is that how you know if we can
help but Norway small business can sell
things to Argentina and Argentina
consumers can buy things online from
from Switzerland and we can build up
which I code I don’t know maybe the
right not right World Cup a WTO the w2
is a great pasta century but W have a so
many big companies to sell things across
the nation today internet it can help
small business sell things cross the
oceans crossing nations and I hope that
we can serve two billion consumers two
billion cans to billion consumers we can
help
10 million small business also China
helped outside job outside China because
I’m so because we we help the American
farmers in Washington State almost 300
tons of cherries to China last year
cherries when they when we before was
the ambassador of us it came to me CJ
can you help us selling cherries and
Jesse what charities the fruits is why
not I said why not let’s check so that
when we order when we start to sell
cherries the cherries do on the trees so
we start a pre-order 80,000 families or
the cherries online so we pick up the
cherries and soup into China within 48
hours we
sell the church the consumers are so
happy and but we’ve got a lot of letters
complain after three days they say why
only a hundred tons why we should under
get more so we sell you know last two
months ago we helped the Costco we sell
three hundred tons of nuts to China so
I’m thinking about if we can sell oh no
we’re also selling Alaska seafood to
China so if we can sell seafood we could
if we can seal the cherries why we can I
help American and European small
business selling things to China
consumers China Neath that so this is
what I want do is that ten to billion
consumers China Asia developing nations
how we can let them buy things for
globally Alibaba Road with the millions
of people that went from poverty to the
middle class in China I mean you were
right they’re growing as they grew and
increased when you look at the
international markets you’re doing well
in Russia yeah oh well we do pretty good
on Russia a way to breathe to also
pretty good at Brazil Russia I think and
now we I don’t know where the if not the
number one with the top of two or number
three largest e-commerce e-commerce I
remember last year we had a campaign the
camping is that a lot of the Russian
people girls and boys want to buy things
from China you know how many days a
Russian girl place an order and receive
the products from China two years ago
for mouse even that people are so happy
about other thing and lasted the
campaign within one week we crash the
whole largest system of Russia
you were also seen in Hollywood yeah
well I like the big Hollywood innovation
at the digital I learned so much about
the Hollywood movies especially the
forests to come you love forests got
love for its gun why do you like him
simple never give up and people people
thinking he’s done but he knows what
he’s doing and I was very depressed the
day a year 2000 two or three in the
States when I know no no no earlier than
that I was very depressed when I I could
not define out a way for the Internet
and I watched the movie my friend’s home
forced a gun when I see him I think this
is the guy we shall learn from believe
what you’re doing love it whether people
like it don’t like it be simple and like
the word life is like a box of chocolate
you never know what you can get alright
I never know I would be here talking to
you and talking to Charlie Rose I never
know but today I made it I told my
people in my apartment 18 15 years ago
guys we have to work hard not for
ourself if we can be successful eighty
percent of the young people in China can
be successful we don’t have a rich
father powerful uncle we don’t have one
daughter from bank when Sam from
government just work as a team so what
do you worry about I worry about it
today young people out of young people
lose hope lose vision instead of
complaint because I we also have the
same Pyrrhus when I got it’s not a good
feeling being rejected by so many people
we also depressed but at least later we
find that the world has a lot of
opportunity how you see the world how
you catch the opportunity so and the
Hollywood gives me a lot of inspiration
yeah but basically out there for
business you are out there because you
want to make movies and sell them I want
to make the move
business-wise we are ecommerce company
we we have a lot of products that need
logistic but movie TV these are things
you don’t need logistic system and movie
probably is the best product that can
help Chinese young people to understand
because one thing I told the Chinese
people of my friends in American movie
all the heroes at the beginning they
look like a bad guy terrible things
coming they become hero
and finally they all survived China if
so
dad people become the hero so nobody
won’t be the hero so you wanna change
the Chinese definition of hero yeah I
want to say hero you today we have so
many heroes live in this world are you
still writing this kung-fu novel very
just reading them I read them and I
start to write something I think to find
a kung-fu it’s something you you start
to think about something that you cannot
do but if you have some luck if you
continue to practice if you got a good
master if a good team your expert so at
least it make me when I’m busy when I’m
tired of frost rate I really come for
books and you also travel with a tights
I must saying that right a trainer
trainer hi cha Chi Chi Chi Chi Chi yeah
what does that do for you other than
keep you in good I looked at you Tai Chi
is a philosophy about in any young Tai
Chi is about how you balance how you
work like a competition people say when
I compete with eBay see you hate even no
no no I don’t anything it’s a great
company you know they come I go you know
Tai Chi’s like you fight here I go over
there you put on the top I go to down
right so
balance right you are happy on a small
you know what else more I can jump your
have you cannot Jack their Taiji’s
better philosophy I use integer
philosophy in the in the business calm
down there’s always we out and keep
yourself balanced and meanwhile don’t
try to keep this business is is a
company competition is a fun business
and not a battlefield you are you die or
I wink business even if you die I mean
either ring right so it’s about it’s
better fun
so Taichi gives me a lot of inspirations
you but you want your life and you want
this company Alibaba to change the world
and you’re changing the world it’s in
fact you provide a forum for buying and
you enable people to earn a living but
also you believe that Alibaba ought to
change the lives of women so what are
you doing first I think many years ago I
want to change the world now I think if
you want to change the world we change
our self change our self is more
important and then change the world and
the second is that I want to improve the
world because it changed the world maybe
Obama’s job my job is to making sure
that my team are happy because my team
are happy they can make my custom happy
if my custom they are all small business
when they are happy we are having a
better women one of the secret sauce for
Alibaba success is that we have not a
woman what percentage of women had
before I think two months before two or
three months before we I peel there is
America there’s American generous
control company she asked me a question
check have see so many women your
company I see what’s wrong we have a
leader we find that you know with we
have 30 or we have 47 percent of the
employees of our company a woman how
many 40 47 percent of our company women
and
we actually had a 51 because we acquire
some company these days they have a mole
man so balanced that but these are women
in top level positions 33 percent of the
cinema of the management of women and
24% of the scene image very top level
women we have a woman CEO CFO CPA cheap
people officer and we have everywhere
and I think so comfortable to working
with them because women in this world if
you want the wing in 21st century you
have to making sure that making other
people powerful empower others making
sure the other people better than you
are then you will be successful so I
find the women they think about the
others more than they think about
themselves women think about the jackets
husband parents much more than the man
and they user-friendliness a couple of
things I want to talk about before we go
because we have less than a couple
minutes are China today are you worried
the economy slowed down oh I don’t worry
about I think China’s do it’s slowing
dot is much better than keep on 9% China
today is the second the largest economy
in the world it’s impossible to keep 9%
of the growth if China still keeps a 9%
of the growth of the economy there must
be something wrong you will never see
the blue sky you will never see the
quality China should pay attention to
the quality of the economy China should
not so if we have a lot of inference you
know like the heart of movies things and
we have a sports and of these things in
the car in the eva gdp will be much
better so i think just like a human bro
you can never get this body cannot a
grow grow grow grow certain time the
slow of growth of a body was slow but
should grow your mind grew your culture
grew your valley grew you’re visiting I
think China is moving to that reaction
and you saw Modi in India honey did you
see Modi in India not yet I’m looking
forward to though you’ll go to India
finally there’s this you’re one of the
your company’s one of the world’s
richest companies what do you want
beyond Alibaba
well how about richest the people I was
I told my I was really not happy in the
past three months when people say Jack
my is the richest two people of China
global celebrity they said and no I’m
not I’m not thinking when I start a
business you are I never thought this
how many yeah maybe I am NOT but I think
what I fifteen years ago in my apartment
my wife or was that time one of the
eighteen fighters I asked her do you
want your husband to be a rich person
I never said rich person China
rich person Han Solo oh you want to be
your husband to be respected a person
she said of course respected because
she’d never believed and I don’t believe
would be rich people which is the water
survive I believe we have a 1 million
dollars that’s your money we have a 20
million dollars you stud have problem
you worry about embracing where we
should stock to buy and this that’s a
headache um when you have 1 billion
dollars that’s not your money that’s the
trust society give on you they believe
you can manage the money use the money
better than the government the others so
I think today I have the resources do
more things with the money we have with
the inference we have we should spend
more time on the young people and I
would say someday I’ll go back to teach
go back to school
spend time with the young people and
telling sharing with them what I doubt
so the money is not mine I just heard
happily and having this resources then I
want to do better job just tell him your
story
yeah tell them the story and tell them
that if Jack I don’t think in this world
a lot of people be rejecting more than
30 times
if we you know the only thing we never
give up the only thing like we’re like a
forest agon will keep on fight we keep
on change ourself we don’t complain
whether you were successful not
successful I find a one people when they
finish the job if they make the mistake
if you the film if they always
complained the others
this guy will never come back if the guy
only check himself yeah something wrong
with me here’s something want me there
there this guy has the hope Jack on
behalf of everybody in this audience and
a television audience around the world
thank you for taking your time to be with us
let’s start with where you are today
just how big is all about them
how many people come every day how many
people come in a week how fast is it
growing yeah we have four over a hundred
million buyers visiting our site
shopping or a site every day and we
create 200 million and every day we
created 14 million jobs for China
directly and indirectly and we grow from
18 people to 30,000 people meeting
people in my apartment – now we have a
four-bit campers compared to 15 years
ago
we were big but compared to 15 years
later with do a baby a big will you be
15 years from them
I think the 15 years ago I told my team
that 15 years in the past 15 years we
grow from nothing to this size and 15
years later I wanted people see know
about Alibaba no Taba because it’s
already everywhere I want 15 years ago
when we talk about what is ecommerce why
small business can using this ecommerce
those Internet can do business across
the nation and I hope 15 years later
people forget about e-commerce because
they think it’s like electricity nobody
think is a high tech today now this is
something that I don’t want to 15 years
later we still walk on the street
talking about why and how ecommerce can
help people talk about the IPO we did it
exceed your expectations
well it’s a pretty small IPO 250 yes
yeah largest Ontario in the history ok
we raise we we raise number 2 was a
Chinese bank thank you I I remember
year 2001 we went to raise some five
minutes remain a venture capitalist
dollars in the USA and it got rejected
and I say we come back raising something
a little bit more but I I think it you
know what we think more about is four to
twenty five billion dollars how we can
spend the money efficiently because this
is not a money this is the trust from
the world the trust from those people
they want to do better jobs to help more
people they won’t have a good return so
I think gives me more pressure because
when our our market cap is bigger than
IBM for certain day were bigger than
warm-up we’re one of the top ten 15
largest er market cap company in the
world I told my team of myself is that
true we’re not that good because years
ago people say ah Alibaba motto is
terrible
does not a make money have those and
that all the big bad things because
Emma’s is a battery based battery Google
is better and there’s no such model like
Alibaba in the USA so I told myself in
people we were better than people
thought but today when we got that big
size I said no we are not that good as
people thought we’re just a company 15
years old average age is 27 28 years old
young people we’re doing something that
human being have never tried so what I
want to talk about the future let me
take you back to when you were born in
hang zoo where the headquarters still
are yeah and your campus is they don’t
have a loop dum-dum move your loot
you’re happy Potter’s there yeah yeah
you’re fond of their loot there you grew
up in the 60s 64 that was
born in 64 that was the time of the
Cultural Revolution yeah
it was the end of the Cultural
Revolution it was well my grandfather
was a tiny landlord was considered after
liberation was considered be a bad guy
so I was III I know how tough it was
when I was kid you tried to get into
three colleges mm-hmm each time they
rejected you
no I I tried there is a examination that
young people if you want to go
university of the taste take the
examinations so I failed of three times
but a lot of fail I fail for funny
things that I showed a key primary
school tests for two times and I failed
like three times for the middle school
middle schools and you would never
believe in ching hangs on my city there
is only one middle school that lasts
only one year it was changed from
primary school middle school because our
graduates of our our Alice school no
universe you know middle school except
us because we were too bad I would
become a what effect did it have though
being rejected well I think we have to
get used to it we’re not that good even
today we still have a lot of people
reject us I think when I didn’t graduate
from universities and before you know
for three years I tried fill in two
universities so I applied jobs for 30
times got rejected
I went for a police listen no you’re not
good I went to you know even the KFC
when KFC came to check up do I say
you see 24 people went for the job 23
people accepted I was the only one guy
and we went for please five people all
of them accepted I was the only guy than
I receive receive it so to me being
turned down rejected oh by the way I
told you that I would apply for Harvard
for 10 times rejected
I know 10 times you wrote them and said
I’d like to come to Harvard yeah and
then I told myself somebody I should go
teach there buddy I think that can be
arranged
Richard Nixon came to Hong Zhu yeah and
after that tourists flooded the place
yeah and that’s how you learn English
yeah I really like the I don’t know why
at 12 13 years old that time I saw they
fell love into the language the English
and there’s no place you can you can
learn English at that time there’s no
books English books so I went to the
council hotel now called House of
shangri-la hotel because that was the
hotel can receive the foreign visitors
so every morning for nine years I showed
them around as a free guide and they
taught me English and I think that
changed to me today I’m 100% made in
China I’ve never got a one-day train
outside China and people when people
talk to me say Jack how can you speak
English like that why is sometimes you
you talk like an American Western guys I
think that was the nine years these
Western for the tourists opened my mind
because everything they told me are so
different from the things I learned from
the school and from my parents so now I
have a habit whatever I see whatever
read
I use my mind think about four two names
that have margin became Jack Ma actually
Jack the name was given by
a lady in tennis she’s a tourist as she
came here and she said came to Hangzhou
we had a we become a Pam friends marring
is so difficult to pronounce
so she said do you you have English name
I said done because okay you give me
English name she said okay she said my
father called the check my husband
called Jack what do you think about Jack
first visit to America 1995 1995 yeah I
come here for a project helping the
local government to building up a
highway and you tried the Internet
I try to Internet in Seattle and in that
building called the USA bank I don’t
know whether US banks still there or not
but there’s a building and this my
friend opened a small office which is so
like only 10% bigger than this room
under a lot of much computers in there
and he said a jack you this is internet
it was I asked what is internet he said
you know search whatever you want
now that time to use mosaic very slow
right now and I say I don’t use it I
don’t want to type because intent the
computer is so expensive in China if I
destroy it I cannot pay you should just
to search it so I searched the first the
world of beer I don’t know why because
easy to spell a baby and I see beers
from Germany beers from USA beers from
Japan but there’s no beer from China and
I say okay
type the second words China no data
nothing nothing and I say 95 not you not
have no data about China so I talked to
my friend why not I make some something
about China so we made a small very ugly
looking page called China it’s it’s
about it’s something like I did a
translation gauges and were listed on
there it was so shocking we launched at
9:40 in the morning
twelve-thirty I got a phone call for my
friend who said Jack you know you got a
five emails so what is email they say
these are the things they people so
except for where are you
this is the first time I see a Chinese
website on that how can we kind of win
can we do something together so I think
this is something interesting so we
should do it why did you call it Ali
Baba
Ali Baba well when I started I think
Internet is Guillou but we should have a
global name and I named that interesting
like at that time the best ur name is
Yahoo right I think I can so I’ve been
thinking for many days suddenly Alibaba
is a good name so I I was happened to
being sent San Francisco that day never
didn’t have a launch and the waitress
can I ask you do you know about Alibaba
she say yes I do what is Alibaba she
said Open Sesame
good so I went on the street ask about
10 20 people they all know about Alibaba
40 thieves and Open Sesame
and I think this is a good name and
start with a whatever you talk about all
the bubbles on the top you have said
before that in creating a la Baba you
had to create trust yeah because people
in China were used to face to face yeah
how did you create trust I think because
we’ve said about it but doing business
into Internet I don’t know you you don’t
know me so how can you do things online
unless you have trust
so for e-commerce the most important of
thing was trust I think when I wear
first went to USA for raising money talk
to the venture capitalist a lot of
people say Oh Jack no no no no China
doing business about wine she how came
to business on internet and I know that
without the trust the system the credit
system it’s impossible to do business so
we with ever in the past for 14 years
everything we do is trying to build up
the trust assistant the record system
well Charlie you know I I’m so proud of
today when I I talked to young padang
China and in the world people don’t
trust each other the government and
people and the media and everybody god
this guy’s cheating but because of
e-commerce we finish 60 million
transactions every day people don’t know
each other I don’t know you
I sent products to you you don’t know me
you why the money to me and I don’t know
you I give a person a package I don’t
know him he took something too so cross
the ocean cross the river understand
this is the trust we have sick at least
the 16-minute trust happening every day
but you created by creating an escrow
account in the beginning yep you know
and so you keep the money until they got
the product yeah and then you release
the money that’s true I mean the escrow
service is about a leap a when I when I
when I have you know this idea with a
love Davos because it was a big decision
because for 33 years Alibaba is just
like a marketplaces for for information
what you have what I have we talked a
lot of time and but don’t do any
business because there is no payment I
talked to the banks no banks want to do
it banks are now this thing never work
so I don’t know what to do because if I
start to launch a payment system it’s
against the financial legal laws because
you have to have a license but if I
don’t do it emo ecommerce would go
nowhere
so then I went to Davos I listened to a
leadership a discussion leadership is
about responsibility and after I
listened to that panel
I gave a call to my friends my
colleagues in the my apartment say do it
now immediately if something wrong the
cover not happy by that if one body has
to go to the prison Jack might go to the
prison because it is so important for
China for the world to build of the
trusted system and if you didn’t
I say and do not do it properly stealing
money money was no trust record I sent
you to the prison yeah so how is they
think and people people don’t like it so
many people I talked to at that time for
all he paid they say this is the
stupidest idea you have ever got but I
say I don’t wear the stupid club as long
as people use it now we have 800 million
people using this a leap a stupid things
better a leap a is a privately held
thing is not part of Alibaba no talk
about money for a second yeah you have
never gotten money from the Chinese
government no no no I I wanted the
beginning a late I don’t want it because
I think if the company always think
about a picking money from all of the
government of pockets that company’s
just rubbish think about how can you
make money from the customers and market
and then help customers succeed that’s
our philosophy on ease banks no no at
that time I want and now they want to
your relationship with the government
mm-hmm yeah what’s your relationship I
mean if they didn’t well here’s what
some say that you have existed in an
environment that’s not you know they
have restricted competition for you and
that’s a pretty good thing to do for a
private company yeah I think the
relationship with the government to for
us is very interesting for the first two
five years because I’ve been working as
a part-time job for a government
organization Ministry of Foreign Trade
1997 for 14 months and I learned that
you should never rely government
organization to do e-commerce and I
start a business I told my people and
team in love with the government but
don’t marry them respect them and a lot
of people say well you know government
officers talking to about Internet the
censorship and there’s that and the
worry about I think it’s the opportunity
it’s a responsibility talking to them
tell them how Internet can help so you
tell them we create jobs
oh yeah I being I think a lot of people
debate and fight against them and in the
first 12 years anybody come to my office
I’ve sit down talking to them how we can
help economy how we can create jobs why
China we improve by the internet I think
because internet that time is new to any
government and if you convince somebody
and you have the chance so today I’m
very talkative that probably this is why
I talk to so many people so I mean the
government comes to you and ask you to
do something for them mm-hm
normally when government comes say Jack
came to this project I said no I can’t I
said no okay
I can’t introduce some friends who are
interested in doing that for you but if
you if they continue to want me to do it
I say okay I do it but I don’t want I
don’t
charge I hope next time don’t come to me
again but recently we helped some
government organizing to it for example
the every Spring Festival the train
station the train tick is so difficult
hundreds and thousands of farmers in
work in the cities in the Spring
Festival they go to the hometown but
when they order tickets on the on the
DDT other way the whole system crashed
for five years so I told my young people
go support them don’t charge anything
because I don’t want to see millions of
farmers go back to city and they cannot
back the tickets so it’s it’s something
that it’s not for money it’s something
that it’s not for the government it’s
for the millions of men as people think
about tickets in a snowy night and then
you have to wait they just buy it use
mobile phone online we got ticket
one-way stop along the route to where
you are in that big IPO was Yahoo Jerry
Yang gave you a invested a billion
dollars yeah a billion dollars now it
turned out to be a pretty good
investment for Yahoo yeah but one time
after another are you raised this money
on your own outside of China with
investors mm-hmm yeah I’m the very
thankful for all the investors cuz 1999
year 2000 and the evening of the Yahoo
time a lot of people see this jack is
crazy
he’s he’s doing something that we don’t
understand a lot of venture capitals
give you money because there is such a
American model already there but they
say Alibaba we don’t see this kind of
motto right name Jack’s crazy yeah this
is crazy guy I mean I remember my first
time in Time magazine they call me crazy
jack and I think Chris is good we are
we know what we are doing but if
everybody agree with me if everybody
believe my our idea is good we have no
chance so that’s the money we raised
we’re very thankful so when the our
investors makes a lot of money I feel
proud and honored as you know in the
United States issues have arisen about
privacy yeah Google and Apple and
questions of whether the government
should have access to files how do you
handle that if the Chinese government
says you know a lot about people mm-hmm
you have transactional relationships
with lots of people mm-hmm and they say
we want to see your files well so far I
don’t have this kind of province of our
Chinese government and I told them any
government if you come here for the
national security anti-terrorist well
anywhere anti-terrorist will work
together there’s a criminal will work
the rest of that no I said we are
business the data is so precious because
we don’t know how because if we give to
anybody it’s gonna be a disaster
and also about privacy issues I think
just like God hundreds of years ago
people say I would rather put the money
under my pillow rather than putting the
banks but today banks they’re special
they know how to protect money much
better than you do
privacy issues all these kind of
securities today we may not have the
solutions we don’t have the answer but I
believe our young people have the
solutions in next 1020 years there will
be breakthrough on that and I fully
confidence on that your life is a
testament to the idea that nothing is
impossible that if somebody says no you
say it’s just the beginning where does
that come from
well I at the beginning I never thought
I thought when I was young I said
everything’s possible now I know not
everything is possible we have something
you have to think about you have to
consider about the others you have to
consider about the customer society your
employees their shareholders so society
there are so many things that I think if
you continue to work hard there’s
there’s possibility and I just a few
that I’m enthusiastic about what we are
doing at the beginning for the first
five years I just want to survive and
five years earlier I think that’s 2000
from ninety point yeah but later I think
wow so many people’s life changed I was
so excited you know for the first of
three years we made a zero revenue zero
revenue but we we are so excited ass
beast continue to work you know what
happened I remember many times when I go
to restaurant have a dinner somebody
came when I was to try to pay the bill
the owner of the restaurant came to say
sir your bill is paid by someone and the
small note say hey mr. Mar I’m your
customer of Alibaba Group I robbed a
platform I’ve made a lot of money and I
know you don’t make any money I pay the
and I remember one thing one day that I
was sitting somewhere into coffee
somebody’s sending me a cigar I don’t
smoke cigar but there’s a note thank you
very much
I’m your customer and I remember the
tabla days I would the shangri-la Hotel
in Beijing when I got on the taxi a male
who opened the door for me take the boy
out at the gate he said Jack thank you
very much so what are you thumbs here my
girlfriend makes more money than I do on
your site and this is something that you
know that it’s not mission if you don’t
do it nothing is possible if you try to
do it at least you have the hope the
revenue comes from advertising and a
smaller amount from transactional – yes
most of it from advertising tiny tiny
from advertising tiny from advertising
tiny from transactions because we need
big mess when we now we have more than
10 million small business power sellers
selling our site to everywhere so the
big trend the transactions we have a
second after Walmart so time back at the
wall yeah tiny of the transact of the
money already make us make us big so you
know we second after warmer I remember
one of the senior management of warmer
guys came to town so five years ago he
said Jack you know you had a great job
in bed that so we I said maybe in 10
years will be bigger than Walmart you
say young man you have a good hope so we
sever make a map that I think in 10
years will be bigger than Walmart on the
cells because if you want have 10,000 to
new customers you have to build a new
warehouse and this that for me to
service what’s your market cap versus
wallström Walmart today all right I
don’t know buddy
yeah some it’s close I think so maybe we
should check later all right so where
are you going what does Jack what I
think because the name for Alibaba we
are Internet company
happen to be in China we have the same
spirit and an entrepreneur sprit like
every great entrepreneurs in the world
and I remember the day when I study but
we want of amazing helping small
business doing easier so next up today
so many millions of small business using
our platform to sell things and over 300
million consumers buy things from our
site cheapest efficient so what I’m
thinking about how we can make Alibaba a
platform for global small business my
vision is that how you know if we can
help but Norway small business can sell
things to Argentina and Argentina
consumers can buy things online from
from Switzerland and we can build up
which I code I don’t know maybe the
right not right World Cup a WTO the w2
is a great pasta century but W have a so
many big companies to sell things across
the nation today internet it can help
small business sell things cross the
oceans crossing nations and I hope that
we can serve two billion consumers two
billion cans to billion consumers we can
help
10 million small business also China
helped outside job outside China because
I’m so because we we help the American
farmers in Washington State almost 300
tons of cherries to China last year
cherries when they when we before was
the ambassador of us it came to me CJ
can you help us selling cherries and
Jesse what charities the fruits is why
not I said why not let’s check so that
when we order when we start to sell
cherries the cherries do on the trees so
we start a pre-order 80,000 families or
the cherries online so we pick up the
cherries and soup into China within 48
hours we
sell the church the consumers are so
happy and but we’ve got a lot of letters
complain after three days they say why
only a hundred tons why we should under
get more so we sell you know last two
months ago we helped the Costco we sell
three hundred tons of nuts to China so
I’m thinking about if we can sell oh no
we’re also selling Alaska seafood to
China so if we can sell seafood we could
if we can seal the cherries why we can I
help American and European small
business selling things to China
consumers China Neath that so this is
what I want do is that ten to billion
consumers China Asia developing nations
how we can let them buy things for
globally Alibaba Road with the millions
of people that went from poverty to the
middle class in China I mean you were
right they’re growing as they grew and
increased when you look at the
international markets you’re doing well
in Russia yeah oh well we do pretty good
on Russia a way to breathe to also
pretty good at Brazil Russia I think and
now we I don’t know where the if not the
number one with the top of two or number
three largest e-commerce e-commerce I
remember last year we had a campaign the
camping is that a lot of the Russian
people girls and boys want to buy things
from China you know how many days a
Russian girl place an order and receive
the products from China two years ago
for mouse even that people are so happy
about other thing and lasted the
campaign within one week we crash the
whole largest system of Russia
you were also seen in Hollywood yeah
well I like the big Hollywood innovation
at the digital I learned so much about
the Hollywood movies especially the
forests to come you love forests got
love for its gun why do you like him
simple never give up and people people
thinking he’s done but he knows what
he’s doing and I was very depressed the
day a year 2000 two or three in the
States when I know no no no earlier than
that I was very depressed when I I could
not define out a way for the Internet
and I watched the movie my friend’s home
forced a gun when I see him I think this
is the guy we shall learn from believe
what you’re doing love it whether people
like it don’t like it be simple and like
the word life is like a box of chocolate
you never know what you can get alright
I never know I would be here talking to
you and talking to Charlie Rose I never
know but today I made it I told my
people in my apartment 18 15 years ago
guys we have to work hard not for
ourself if we can be successful eighty
percent of the young people in China can
be successful we don’t have a rich
father powerful uncle we don’t have one
daughter from bank when Sam from
government just work as a team so what
do you worry about I worry about it
today young people out of young people
lose hope lose vision instead of
complaint because I we also have the
same Pyrrhus when I got it’s not a good
feeling being rejected by so many people
we also depressed but at least later we
find that the world has a lot of
opportunity how you see the world how
you catch the opportunity so and the
Hollywood gives me a lot of inspiration
yeah but basically out there for
business you are out there because you
want to make movies and sell them I want
to make the move
business-wise we are ecommerce company
we we have a lot of products that need
logistic but movie TV these are things
you don’t need logistic system and movie
probably is the best product that can
help Chinese young people to understand
because one thing I told the Chinese
people of my friends in American movie
all the heroes at the beginning they
look like a bad guy terrible things
coming they become hero
and finally they all survived China if
so
dad people become the hero so nobody
won’t be the hero so you wanna change
the Chinese definition of hero yeah I
want to say hero you today we have so
many heroes live in this world are you
still writing this kung-fu novel very
just reading them I read them and I
start to write something I think to find
a kung-fu it’s something you you start
to think about something that you cannot
do but if you have some luck if you
continue to practice if you got a good
master if a good team your expert so at
least it make me when I’m busy when I’m
tired of frost rate I really come for
books and you also travel with a tights
I must saying that right a trainer
trainer hi cha Chi Chi Chi Chi Chi yeah
what does that do for you other than
keep you in good I looked at you Tai Chi
is a philosophy about in any young Tai
Chi is about how you balance how you
work like a competition people say when
I compete with eBay see you hate even no
no no I don’t anything it’s a great
company you know they come I go you know
Tai Chi’s like you fight here I go over
there you put on the top I go to down
right so
balance right you are happy on a small
you know what else more I can jump your
have you cannot Jack their Taiji’s
better philosophy I use integer
philosophy in the in the business calm
down there’s always we out and keep
yourself balanced and meanwhile don’t
try to keep this business is is a
company competition is a fun business
and not a battlefield you are you die or
I wink business even if you die I mean
either ring right so it’s about it’s
better fun
so Taichi gives me a lot of inspirations
you but you want your life and you want
this company Alibaba to change the world
and you’re changing the world it’s in
fact you provide a forum for buying and
you enable people to earn a living but
also you believe that Alibaba ought to
change the lives of women so what are
you doing first I think many years ago I
want to change the world now I think if
you want to change the world we change
our self change our self is more
important and then change the world and
the second is that I want to improve the
world because it changed the world maybe
Obama’s job my job is to making sure
that my team are happy because my team
are happy they can make my custom happy
if my custom they are all small business
when they are happy we are having a
better women one of the secret sauce for
Alibaba success is that we have not a
woman what percentage of women had
before I think two months before two or
three months before we I peel there is
America there’s American generous
control company she asked me a question
check have see so many women your
company I see what’s wrong we have a
leader we find that you know with we
have 30 or we have 47 percent of the
employees of our company a woman how
many 40 47 percent of our company women
and
we actually had a 51 because we acquire
some company these days they have a mole
man so balanced that but these are women
in top level positions 33 percent of the
cinema of the management of women and
24% of the scene image very top level
women we have a woman CEO CFO CPA cheap
people officer and we have everywhere
and I think so comfortable to working
with them because women in this world if
you want the wing in 21st century you
have to making sure that making other
people powerful empower others making
sure the other people better than you
are then you will be successful so I
find the women they think about the
others more than they think about
themselves women think about the jackets
husband parents much more than the man
and they user-friendliness a couple of
things I want to talk about before we go
because we have less than a couple
minutes are China today are you worried
the economy slowed down oh I don’t worry
about I think China’s do it’s slowing
dot is much better than keep on 9% China
today is the second the largest economy
in the world it’s impossible to keep 9%
of the growth if China still keeps a 9%
of the growth of the economy there must
be something wrong you will never see
the blue sky you will never see the
quality China should pay attention to
the quality of the economy China should
not so if we have a lot of inference you
know like the heart of movies things and
we have a sports and of these things in
the car in the eva gdp will be much
better so i think just like a human bro
you can never get this body cannot a
grow grow grow grow certain time the
slow of growth of a body was slow but
should grow your mind grew your culture
grew your valley grew you’re visiting I
think China is moving to that reaction
and you saw Modi in India honey did you
see Modi in India not yet I’m looking
forward to though you’ll go to India
finally there’s this you’re one of the
your company’s one of the world’s
richest companies what do you want
beyond Alibaba
well how about richest the people I was
I told my I was really not happy in the
past three months when people say Jack
my is the richest two people of China
global celebrity they said and no I’m
not I’m not thinking when I start a
business you are I never thought this
how many yeah maybe I am NOT but I think
what I fifteen years ago in my apartment
my wife or was that time one of the
eighteen fighters I asked her do you
want your husband to be a rich person
I never said rich person China
rich person Han Solo oh you want to be
your husband to be respected a person
she said of course respected because
she’d never believed and I don’t believe
would be rich people which is the water
survive I believe we have a 1 million
dollars that’s your money we have a 20
million dollars you stud have problem
you worry about embracing where we
should stock to buy and this that’s a
headache um when you have 1 billion
dollars that’s not your money that’s the
trust society give on you they believe
you can manage the money use the money
better than the government the others so
I think today I have the resources do
more things with the money we have with
the inference we have we should spend
more time on the young people and I
would say someday I’ll go back to teach
go back to school
spend time with the young people and
telling sharing with them what I doubt
so the money is not mine I just heard
happily and having this resources then I
want to do better job just tell him your
story
yeah tell them the story and tell them
that if Jack I don’t think in this world
a lot of people be rejecting more than
30 times
if we you know the only thing we never
give up the only thing like we’re like a
forest agon will keep on fight we keep
on change ourself we don’t complain
whether you were successful not
successful I find a one people when they
finish the job if they make the mistake
if you the film if they always
complained the others
this guy will never come back if the guy
only check himself yeah something wrong
with me here’s something want me there
there this guy has the hope Jack on
behalf of everybody in this audience and
a television audience around the world
thank you for taking your time to be with us
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