Jack Ma's problem: what to do with all his money

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-11-16

Jack Ma. (File photo/CNS)

Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, recently said that he is looking for ways to use his wealth to give back to society and wants to compete with Microsoft founder Bill Gates to spend money more efficiently on charity.

"It's even more difficult to spend money than to make it," Ma stated while elaborating on his business operating philosophy at this year's Singles Day shopping festival event on Nov. 11.

He added that he was unhappy of late and found being the country's richest man "a great pain." He believes that the record-setting US$25 billion that his company's IPO was valued at may have contributed to this stress.

Ma saw his fortune swell to US$19.5 billion after Alibaba stood at a record-breaking US$25 billion IPO on the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 19. The company's share price closed at US$114.54 on Nov. 12, almost twice its offer price of US$68.

He further noted that Alibaba's listing was not meant to make money. Instead, it was meant to make the company's governance more transparent by putting it under the supervision of its shareholders and users around the world.

"The primary reason for going public was that it calls for more transparent corporate governance and puts stock investors and users around the world in a position to supervise the company and take part in its development," the executive chairman explained.

Ma also pointed out that he intended to get Alibaba listed in the stock market in Shanghai. "For various reasons, Alibaba cannot be listed on the A-share market, but we hope Alipay can list on it in the future," he added.

Alipay is the country's most popular online payment tool launched by Alibaba.

Since Alibaba went public, Ma said that he has been under tremendous pressure due to high expectations from investors. "The stock value may rise; people may have high expectations of you; I may just think too much about the future and have too many things to worry about," he said.

The founder of the e-commerce giant admitted that while being a rich man was good, being the richest man in China was not. "It's a great pain because when you're (the) richest person in the world, everybody (is) surrounding you for your money," he stated during an interview with CNBC at his company's headquarters in Hangzhou the same day.

In order to get rid of this "pain," Ma noted that he was looking at ways to use his money to give back to society.

He affirmed that he is considering establishing a foundation that can "spend money following a business-like framework." He may even compete with the other global billionaires in this regard.

"The competition is probably between me and Bill Gates-who can spend money more effectively and who can be a better philanthropist," he said.

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