On his 55th birthday, Jack Ma decided to retire from the presidency of Alibaba, a company that saw his starting point.
Ma, who switched from an English teacher at $15 a month to the richest man in China with a fortune of more than $38.1 billion.
A year ago, Jack Ma announced that he would retire as president of the world's largest e-commerce company at an event organized by the company. "Before I turn 70, I want to do something in other fields such as education," he said.
Yesterday, which also coincides with Teacher's Day in China, Ma retired from Alibaba to have Daniel Zhang replace him as chairman of the company.
Ma has become an inspiration to many young people after the great success he has achieved and seeks to achieve to confirm the saying "there is no room for despair as long as you live."
[caption id="attachment_77987" align="aligncenter" width="768"]
Jack Ma lecturing English in China[/caption]
"Your first job is the most important," says Ma. "When you graduate and look for a job, the first one is the most important, not necessarily a company with a big name or a dream job. You have to find a good trainer, who can teach you how to be a human being, how to do things right for at least three years," he added during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Ma was born in Hangzhou, China, in 1964, two year before the country's cultural revolution.
He was born to a Family of local musicians performing traditional Suzhou Pingtan music, which was outlawed during the revolution, driving the family into despair.
MA failed to complete his university studies twice, yet continued to study the English language, and eventually enrolled in a teacher education college in his hometown.
During his studies, he practiced his English skills with Western travelers who flooded into the country after the death of Chairman of the Communist Party of China Mao Zedong in 1976.
MA received a teaching position and then established a translation agency.
He knew about the Internet for the first time In 1995, during his first vacation to the United States. Upon his return to China, he launched an online business directory called China Pages.
Four years later, he gathered 18 friends at his apartment and revealed a new idea of creating a new e-commerce corporation. All of his friends accepted the idea and they were capable of accumulating $ 60,000 to launch Alibaba.
"I picked this name Alibaba because it is easy and universal," MA said.
Alibaba is currently valued at $ 400 billion, offering online services, movie production, and cloud computing. 
MA's supports political stability in China through the current Chinese government. "If we oppose the government, we will lose the value of our shares holders and we will go bankrupt," he said.
"I cannot be rich enough, but I can do one thing better than what Bill Gates did," he said, "I think someday, and soon, I'll go back to teaching, I'll do better than being Alibaba's CEO," he added.
Jack Ma most popular quotes:
If you are a wolf chasing rabbits, focus on one rabbit. Change yourself to catch the rabbit, but don’t change rabbits.
Customer first, employees second, and investor third.
Never ever compete on prices, instead compete on services and innovation.
Only fools use their mouth to speak. A smart man uses his brain, and a wise man uses his heart.
Your attitude is more important than your capabilities. Similarly, your decision is more important than your capabilities.
Success and profitability are outcome of focusing on customers and employees, not objectives.
Don’t hire the most qualified, hire the craziest.
If you have different mindset, you will have a different outcome.
If you view everyone as your enemies then everyone around you will be enemies.
A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understands this, the sky’s the limit.
30% of all people will never believe you. Do not allow your colleagues and employees to work for you. Instead, let them work for a common goal.
On the path to success, you will notice that the successful ones are not whiners, nor do they complain often.
Adopt and change before any major trends or changes.
If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat ten of them.
When people think too highly of you, you have the responsibility to calm down and be yourself.
Forget about your competitors, just focus on your customers.
A leader should be visionary and have more foresight than an employee.
Follow the latest news on Google News
