Charlie: We all know a lot about Jack and his story. And when Alibaba came out with the biggest IPO in history, we knew a lot about him. So, I want to talk about his private story. I want to talk about how many times he tried and failed and what kept him going.
I want to talk about where you are today and how you got here. I’ll start with this question though, Jack. Why did you return to Davos? Jack: It's been a long break, seven years.
I think my last trip here was in 2008. But I was coming in 2001 to the Young World Leader of the Future. And I think, I remember, I never heard of Davos when I arrived. But when I arrived in Switzerland, so many young people showed up.
It was a terrible situation and I asked them "What are they doing?" They said, "Fighting global trade." Then I said “Why? Global trade is a good thing. Why don't people like it? ”And then we came for two hours here. There's a machine gun, people are checking the soldiers.
Oh, God, is it a movie or a prison? What is that? But when I joined the Young GlobalLeader Forum, I was excited about the many ideas. In the first three to four years, I learned what globalization means. What does it mean to be a cooperative citizen? What does social responsibility mean?
All of these ideas are new and I saw so many leaders talking about leadership, and I benefited so much. In 2008 and the 9th when the financial crisis hit, I decided it was time to go back to work. Because we will never conquer the world by word of mouth.
Therefore, go back and spend seven years. Now, I'm back. I think it’s time to do something to come back because I learned so much 12 years ago, so why not talk to a young global leader today, sharing with them how we went. So, that was it. Charlie: Let's start where you are today.
How big is Alibaba? How many people come every day? How many people come each week? How fast is it growing? Jack: Yes. We have over 100 million customers visiting our site, shopping on our site every day, and building… Charlie: 100 million every day?
Jack: We have created 14 million jobs in Chinadirectirect and indirect. And we grew from 18 people to 30,000; Eighteen people in my apartment so far have four hundred camps. Compared to 15 years ago, we were older, but compared to 15 years later, we are still young. Charlie: How big will you be, 15 years from now?
Jack: I think 15 years ago I told my team that 15 years - 15 years ago, we grew from nothing to size. And 15 years later I want people to see and know about Alibaba because it is already everywhere. I want, 15 years ago when we talked about what e-commerce is, why small businesses can use this e-commerce, use the internet, the can-do business across the nation. And I hope 15 years later, people forget about e-commerce because we think it’s like electricity.
No one thinks of high technology today. This is something I didn’t want 15 years later, still on the street talking about why and how e-commerce can help people. Charlie: He tried to get into three colleges, each time they refused. Jack: No, I tried.
There are tests that young people do if you want to go to university you have to write exams. So, I have failed three times, but I have failed in many things. I have failed to do funny things, I have failed two key school exams, and I have failed three times in middle school, middle school. And you will never believe in Hangzhou, my city.
There is only one middle school year. We have changed from elementary school to middle school because our students graduate from our school, no middle school accepts us because we are too bad. It could be middle school. Charlie: What was the result though, the rejection? Jack: No, I think we should get used to it. We are not that good. Even today, there are still many people who reject us.
I think when I graduated from universities, and before, you know, for three years I tried and failed to get into universities. So I applied for a job 30 times and was rejected. I went to the police, and they said no, it didn't go well. I went to you you know, even KFC when KFC came to China, it came to my city, 24 people went to this job, 23 people were accepted.
He was the only boy. And we went to the police, five people, four of whom were received. He was the only boy he had never met. So to me, when I was rejected, I was rejected ... Oh, by the way, I told you that when I applied for Harvard, 10 times it was rejected.
I know I would be rejected… Charlie: They're sorry now. She wrote to them ten times and said, "I'd like to come to Harvard." Jack: Yes. Then I told myself the other day that I should go to the polls there, someday. Charlie: I think that can be arranged. Richard Nixon came to Hangzhou and after that, visitors filled the area, and thus he learned English.
Jack: Yes. I liked it-- I don't know why I was 12.13 years old, at that time I started to love the language, English. And there is no place to learn English at that time. No books, no English books.
So I went to a hotel in Hangzhou now called the Hangzhou Shangri-La Hotel because that was a hotel for foreign guests. So, every morning, for nine years, I showed them as a free guide and they taught me English. And I think that changed me.
Today, I am made 100% in China. I have never received a one-day training outside of China. And when people would talk to me and say, “Jack, how can you speak English like that? Why do you sometimes speak like westerners? ”I think that was nine years from these westerners opening my mind. Because everything they told me was very different from what I had learned in school and my parents.
So, now I have a habit. Whatever I see, whatever I read using my mind, think about doing business. Charlie: Is that how Ma Yun became Jack Ma? Jack: Jack, the name was given to the bya lady in tennis. She is a visitor, she came here and said - she came to Hangzhou, we had - we were our friends, Ma Yun is different
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