Jack Ma Height, Weight, Age, Body Statistics

Jack Ma is a Chinese business magnate, investor, and philanthropist who is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group (a multinational technology conglomerate). He announced in September 2018 that he would retire from Alibaba and he was succeeded by Daniel Zhang as the group’s executive chairman. Jack Ma has also co-founded Yunfeng Capital, a Chinese private equity firm. He became the richest man in China in August 2014 with a net worth of US$21.8 billion and Fortune ranked him 2nd in its annual “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” list in 2017. Acknowledging his work supporting underprivileged communities in China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East, Forbes included him in its list of “Asia’s 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy”. Widely considered as an informal global ambassador for Chinese business, Jack Ma ranked 26th in the “2021 Forbes Global Rich List” with a fortune of US$48.4 billion in April 2021. Moreover, he has also tried his hand at acting and debuted with his first kung fu short film Gong Shou Dao in 2017. Between October 2020 and January 2021, Jack Ma made headlines as news outlets noted a lack of public appearances and some even speculated that Ma may have been a victim of forced disappearance. On January 20, 2021, following the reports of his disappearance, he made a public appearance as he spoke via video link to a group of rural teachers at a charitable event. Since 2020, he has been staying away from Alibaba’s day-to-day operations.

Born Name

Mǎ Yún

Nick Name

Jack Ma

Sun Sign

Libra

Born Place

Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Residence

Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Nationality

Education

After clearing the Chinese entrance exams, Jack Ma enrolled at the Hangzhou Teacher’s Institute (which has been renamed Hangzhou Normal University). He graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

He later enrolled at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and graduated in 2006.

Occupation

Business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

Family

• Father – Ma Laifa (Musician and storyteller)
• Mother – Cui Wencai (Musician and storyteller)

Manager

Jack Ma’s personal management team handles his representation and management work.

Net Worth

According to Wikipedia, his net worth was $37.1 billion as of March 2022.

Build

Slim

Height

4 ft 11¾ in or 152 cm

Weight

59 kg or 130 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Jack Ma has dated –

1. Zhang Ying (Late 1980s-Present) – Jack Ma got married to Zhang Ying in the late 80s. They had first met while studying at Hangzhou Normal University. They got married just after graduating from the university. They were both working as teachers at that time. Over the course of their marriage, they have become parents to two children – a son and a daughter.

Race / Ethnicity

Asian

Jack Ma is of Han Chinese descent.

Hair Color

Black

Eye Color

Dark Brown

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Short and slight body
• Gaunt face

Best Known For

• Being the co-founder of the Chinese multinational technology conglomerate, Alibaba Group. He has served as the executive chairman of the company.
• Being one of the richest men in the World with a net worth of more than $41 billion
• Being the global ambassador of Chinese industries and businesses

Personal Trainer

Jack endeavors to remain fit and healthy with the regular practice of Chen-style Tai Chi Chuan. He is such a big fan of Tai Chi that he has hired several experts in the field to teach discipline to his employees at Alibaba.

For his personal guidance, he has hired a renowned teacher and martial artist Wáng Xī’an.

Jack Ma Favorite Things

• Movie– Forrest Gump (1994)

Source – Hollywood Reporter

Jack Ma Facts

1. He started learning English on his own at a very young age. He used to practice his English-speaking skills by conversing with speakers at Hangzhou International Hotel.
2. For 9 years, he used to travel 70 miles on his cycle so as to give tourists a tour of the local area.
3. He got his well-known name Jack Ma from one of his pen pals who was one of the foreign tourists. His pal decided to name him Jack as he found it hard to remember and pronounce his Chinese name.
4. In his youth, he struggled a bit with his studies as he had to give college entrance exams for 4 consecutive years before he could eventually get admission to one college.
5. After completing his college studies, he struggled to find a job as his applications for about 30 different jobs were rejected.
6. He once applied for a job in KFC but was rejected after an interview while the other 23 applicants were selected, leaving him with the unenviable label of being the only rejection.
7. He realized the power of the Internet after an ugly website that he had created related to China got him numerous positive responses within hours of the website’s deployment.
8. His first entrepreneurial venture was a company named China Yellow Pages that he had started with $20,000, which he had raised with the assistance of his wife and a friend.
9. The China Yellow Pages managed to earn about US$800,000 within three years of its official launch.
10. In 1998, he was hired to head an IT company set up by the China International Electronic Commerce Center, which falls under the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. He quit his job in 1999.
11. In 1999, he moved back to his hometown and started Alibaba at his apartment. He had roped in a group of his 18 friends to start the company.
12. After his company managed to raise over $25 billion in an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, it became the first company in history to raise such an amount in an IPO.
13. He has been invited to deliver lectures at prestigious universities such as the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Peking University.
14. In 2007, Jack was the target of criticism and worldwide protests after his firm raked in enormous profits from the sale of animal products. Jack responded by announcing that products with shark flesh won’t be sold on Alibaba.
15. At the event held to celebrate Alibaba’s 18th year of establishment in September 2017, he dressed up like Michael Jackson and performed on American popstar’s hit single, Thriller on stage.
16. Ma showed off his martial arts skills in the short film, On That Night… While We Dream (originally titled: Gong shou dao). It was released in the US in February 2018.
17. In 2017, he was placed in the second spot in the Fortune Magazine’s list featuring World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.
18. Although he has amassed his fortune due to the immense success of his e-commerce website, he has often professed that he has limited knowledge of technology and his technical competence is limited to sending and receiving emails.
19. He is reported to have gotten his first computer at the age of 33.
20. He first heard about the Internet in 1994 and was introduced to it in 1995 by his friends during his visit to the United States.
21. In July 2022, he was planning to give up control of Ant Group (financial technology company) by divesting his stake from Hangzhou Yunbo Investment Consultancy which controls the Ant Group.
22. In November 2022, it was revealed that Jack Ma was living in Tokyo, Japan along with his family, personal chef, and security for the last 6 months. He was collecting art, painting with watercolor, visiting countryside hot springs, ski resorts, and was even visiting the U.S. and Israel frequently.
23. In April 2023, it was revealed that Jack had joined the University of Tokyo’s Tokyo College as a visiting professor.
24. In June 2023, he visited Pakistan to visit the trade center and had meetings with businessmen there which sparked rumors that he was looking to invest in the country. Pakistani entrepreneur Muhammad Azfar Ahsan claimed that Jack was on a personal visit and remained in Pakistan for less than 24 hours.
25. In November 2023, in an internal forum of Alibaba, Jack praised Alibaba’s rival Pinduoduo’s decision-making, execution, and efforts in the past years.

Featured Image by ITU Pictures / Flickr / CC BY 2.0