Ma Yun 

cctv.com 06-08-2005 11:46

After the starting gun, you have no time to see how your competitors run. If the early bird doesn't eat the worm, it will be eaten by other birds.?These are the words of Ma Yun, President and CEO of Alibaba.com, a well-known b-to-b company in China and all over the world.

As an impish youth, he took delight in fighting for friends and entered college only after three entrance examinations. As a high-spirited college student, he was selected as the Chairman of Hangzhou Student Union. He was once a young college lecturer, and was said to have the most beautiful English ability in Hangzhou. He was the first Chinese mainlander to be on the cover of Forbes, and was described by the magazine as "a Napoleon-like person".

When reading Arabian Nights , people may remember the story of "Alibaba and the Forty Thieves ". In the story, Alibaba faces the opening to a cave and says" open sesame", whereupon the cave, full of gems, opens. Ma Yun chose " Alibaba " as his own enterprise's name for two reasons - because Alibaba is spelled the same everywhere in the world, and because Alibaba is a treasure-seeker, representing the "foreground of money" of the Internet.

In fact, similarly to what is sung in the lyrics "Alibaba is a happy youth" Ma Yun is also a very energetic and cheerful person. Ma Yun is always happy, and he often makes others happy as well. In the legend, Alibaba opens the door to the cave with one sentence "open sesame"- thus discovering the treasure. Ma Yun wants to open the door to the ultimate treasure for businessmen.

In the Up-Close studio, Ma Yun, also known as Jack, talked about his business philosophy and his special way of attracting IT talents to work with him. Ma Yun emphasized that the soul of Alibaba is an eastern wisdom + western operation. Ma Yun says he himself is made in China, and he is proud of his Chinese educational background. However, in his opinion, Chinese are wise, but they lack operational skills. That's why his company unites East with West. The management and the use of capital are all western-like. At Alibaba, 3-5 years of overseas education is a basic requirement of any executive or higher position.

Please join us on Up-Close to experience Ma Yun's interesting stories. It would be a regret if you missed the chance to hear his words. --Written by Zhang Yao

Editor:Xiang  Source:CCTV.com